The Aftermath
by Thewayimis15
Summary: This is my first attempt at a fan fic. I'm writing my own version of what could have happened after Kingdom Hearts 2. I hope you all enjoy it.
1. Memories

**Chapter 1**

**And I don't own Kingdom Hearts :(**

The sun shined on his face, warmness brightening his radiant features. He is a spiky brunet, clad in his magic outfit given to him by fairies. Sounds weird, yes, but convenient.

His name is Sora.

Sora was sitting on the paopu fruit tree, admiring the sun as graced the islet known as Destiny Islands. Could life get any better? Sora didn't seem to think so. He had just come off a long journey a week ago, travelling to many different worlds, made many new friends, he would miss them all, and hoped to visit them all again someday, but nothing was better than being at home.

The waves of the sea crashed against the shores. It's your ideal beautiful day at the Islands.

Sora lifts his hand up just a bit, and waits for a split second. Soon, a weapon popped into his hand. It was the Keyblade, it had a long silver end that looked identical to that of a key, with a yellow handle. Sora admired his weapon.

_We've been through a lot, huh? _Sora thought to himself, as someone taps on his shoulder. Sora jumps as lands on the sand below. He turns around in his signature battle stance, his legs spread out and his blade in protection. But his face softens when he sees a gorgeous auburn-haired girl looking at him, giggling at Sora's spontaneous behavior.

Sora gives her a frown, though he was not really upset. "Not cool, Kairi."He exclaimed.

The girl, known as Kairi, walked by the tree and up to Sora, her hands behind her back. She was still in her short pink dress she wore during their last adventure.

"You're so stupid." Kairi chuckled, as Sora summoned his Keyblade away, crossing his arms. "What were you doing up here?" Kairi asked.

Sora gave her a half smile before turning to the sky. "Just looking at the sun." He answered, "It's funny how things can stay the same for so long."

"Sora," Kairi began. "It's only been about two years. You make it sound like you were gone for ten years."

Sora turned back to her and rubbed his nose, the smile still plastered on his face. "Well, it feels like a lot longer." Sora chuckled as he folded his arms behind his head.

Kairi gave him a warm smile, which Sora had to attempt and halter the flush rising to his cheek from seeing such a sight. He loved her smile. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." With that, Sora helped Kairi up on the paopu fruit tree, then proceeding to lift himself up on the tree, sitting next to her. The two then conversed into a conversation, laughing and giggling. This had been going on for about an hour, and the two were enjoying every minute of it.

Sora couldn't help but notice how beautiful Kairi looked. Before the island fell to darkness way back when, she didn't look nearly as attractive. He always thought she was cute, but now, by god...she was mesmerizing. He had to use all his power not to just end up staring at her from time to time, who he had to settle on occasional glances.

All Sora really wanted to do was tell her how he truly felt about her. Yeah, how he felt her _romantically. _He wanted to tell her before something bad happened, such as another adventure or, even worse, Riku.

Riku, Sora's best friend, with long silver hair and well-toned muscles. He loved Riku (as a best friend, of course) but Sora could never shake the feeling of him having a thing for Kairi. And if that was the case, that meant bad news for our Keyblade wielder.

As far as Sora was concerned, Riku was far better looking than him, and having to compete with Riku would just make him look like an idiot. If he did have a thing for Kairi, there's no way she'd even bother with Sora. Sure, he didn't think he was _ugly_, but was he really on par with Riku? He didn't want to know the answer.

"SORA!" Kairi yelled, snapping Sora out of his trance. Sora blinked a few times before looking at the girl he lo-no, liked. Maybe love was too strong, at least right now.

Kairi was frowning at him. "Where'd you go, Sora? You were just in space for like five minutes."

Sora nervously rubbed the back of his head. The things this girl did to him. "Sorry..." he simply apologized. Kairi shrugged it off, Sora never had the biggest attention span in the world.

"You okay? You've seemed to be in another place ever since we came back," the auburn beauty asked. Sora looked at the sky in thought. Why _was _he in such a bubble all the time? Could it be that he was starting to feel a little out of place? After all, he spent months travelling to other worlds, battling the Heartless and Organization XIII. Could it be that he was starting to miss having Donald and Goofy hanging around all the time? Even though things were a little rocky between him and Donald earlier on, the trio blossomed a very important friendship in Sora's heart. Not to mention King Mickey, who he also grew fond of.

With all that said, he supposed it all felt missing. Like a chapter of his life was now complete, but he didn't necessarily want it to be over. All the pain during his adventure, there were also the fun times.

"I don't know, Kairi, I guess...being here, at this island...it's almost uneasy being in a relaxing area. I haven't truly relaxed in forever."

Kairi gave him sympathetic aqua eyes as she placed a hand on his. "Don't worry...you miss the King and the others, right?"

Sora was surprised she guessed that. Though it didn't surprise him that much, she was amazing after all.

"I assure you, we'll see them again." Kairi gave Sora a warm smile. Sora, embarrassed once again by that cute smile, turned his head while rubbing his nose.

"I know..." he replied.

Kairi started getting giddy as she tugged on Sora's shoulder.

"Ooh, ooh! Tell about what happened during your journey!" She exclaimed. Sora chuckled at her giddy side, which she didn't show too often.

"What are you talking about, Kai? Weren't you in my heart during half of it? You should know."

"Not that part, the other part. What happened while I was waiting for you two to come home. You never told me about it. Besides...you always tell the best stories."

Sora smiled. He began telling her about what happened after he woke up in a mysterious abandoned mansion. He reminiscing while doing so.

_Sora and his companions, Donald and Goofy, arrive at a grim-looking town. The sky is pink and the clouds are grey. Donald ponders for a moment, taking in their surroundings. _

_"This place feels familiar..." Donald quacked. Sora then looked up to see a huge castle in construction, and it looks rather familiar. _

_"Oh! This is Hollow Bastion!" Sora exclaimed, the excitement oozing out of him. Donald and Goofy give each other an excited look as well. _

_"Oh boy!" The duck chanted. _

_"Gawrsh," Goofy said, his eyes attached to the castle he and his two buddies once battled the heartless in,"I wonder how the old gang is holdin' up." _

_"Let's take a look around." Sora suggested, and the three set off into town. _

_ ..._

_The three arrived in town, after having a brief conversation with Donald's Uncle Scrooge, who was trying to perfect an ice cream flavor he once adored, they come across a weird holographic device, surrounding them. _

_"Whoa!" Sora yelled. The three looked at it with caution, not knowing what it was. _

_Suddenly, a group of nobodies appeared, surrounding the heroes of light. They were dusks, according to Master Yen Sid. Sora summoned his Keyblade as Donald and Goofy brought our their weapons. For Donald, it was a blue staff in which he used to cast magic with, for Goofy, it was a shield. _

_They got into their stances, but before they could attack, the holograms from earlier take out the nobodies with ease, leaving the trio dumbfounded. _

_"Sora?! Is that really you?!" _

_The three tried to see where the familiar voice was coming from, until they set their eyes above to a certain "great" ninja with a big grin on her face above. _

_"Yuffie!" Sora exclaimed. Yuffie landed right before them. _

_"Hey, you guys! Long time no see!" _

_"Yeah, it's great to see you." Sora gave her his goofy grin as Donald and Goofy waved at her from behind. _

_Yuffie then clomped Sora into a big bear hug, squeezing the life out of him. "Look at you! All older and handsome!" _

_Sora didn't know whether he was embarrassed or flattered as she finally let go of her tight hug. She noticed his new, more complexed but cool-looking attire as well. "Nice clothes, too." _

_Sora folded his hands behind his spiky hair. "Thanks. I see you're exactly the same as before." _

_"Of course!" She replied. "Nothing brings me down! But hey, where in the moogle were you guys? It's been a year." Yuffie crossed her arms, almost looking like a stern mother concerned for her children. The three tried to find the right answer._

_"Uh...it's kind of a long story..." Donald half-explained. _

_"Just tell me!" Yuffie whined. _

_"Let's save that for later." Sora answered, a sweat drop running down. _

_"Aw poop, you're no fun." Yuffie playfully teased. She began skipping to off while gesturing them to follow. "Come on! The secret base is right around the corner!" _

_Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged looks. "Secret...base?" Sora asked rhetorically. _

_Donald sighed with a smirk on his beak. "Some things never change." _

"And then we met up with Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Merlin."

"Oh yeah! I remember Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid! Back at Traverse Town, after you saved me..." Kairi remembered.

Sora nodded, "That's right. They were all really worried about you, Kai."

Kairi smirked. "Not as worried as _you _if I can recall."

"Huh?"

Kairi playfully rolled her eyes. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You were worried sick about me that whole time. Did we forget that we were one and the same at the time?"

Sora blushed as Kairi poked his cheek, giving him a mischievous look on her face.

"A-Anyway, where was I?" Sora covered.

_Sora, Donald, and Goofy were plopped through a door. They sat up and took a look at their surroundings. Everything was black and white like an old cartoon, and they seemed to be in some sort of plain. _

_Goofy noticed the sphere with a light emitting inside of it. He pointed to it. _

_"Hey, look!" Goofy started. "There's the cornerstone of light!" _

_Sora rose to his feet and made his way to the cornerstone of light. The cornerstone of light was something used in Disney Castle to protect the castle from darkness or threats. What was it doing here? _

_Sora started checking himself out. He looked rather cartoonish. _

_"I don't get it..." Sora started, quite puzzled. "Where are we? And why is everything black and white?" _

_"This place feels...familiar..." Donald started, tapping his foot, trying to look into his memories to pinpoint the reasoning for his deja vu. _

_Goofy was thinking the same thing. "It does feel familiar, don't it? Like that one sayin', Me ya poo." _

_Sora gave Goofy an odd look. Donald, knowing what Goofy meant, just face palmed himself. "That's DEJA VU, you idiot!" _

_"Oh..." Goofy simply replied. Sora could only smile at his two pals bickering, but then turned his attention to a gruff voice coming from behind him. _

_"'Scuse me!" The three gave the person their full attention, who looked very familiar. "Hey fellas, seen any scruffy lookin' joes around town?" _

_Sora and the others knew who this was, or who they thought it was. It was Pete! The fat old loser who was always getting in the way, at least in Sora's point of view. He looked slightly different, what with him being all silken in black fur and wearing a pair of overalls, but it was no doubt that it was Pete, Maleficent's lackey. _

_Sora looked at his friends, as if telepathically communicating with them, and they nod in respond. The three take out their weapons and charge at Pete. _

_"What the-?!" Pete is shocked. These three seemed like nice enough boys to him, never did he expect them to be so cruel and violent. The three began attacking Pete. Nothing fancy like when they're up against the heartless or the nobodies, just a plain old beat down. _

_Pete is finally able to break free. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Pete yelled in frustration. _

_Donald gave him a look like he was from mars. "What are you? An idiot?" _

_"Well, maybe..." Pete realized what he said and quickly covered it up. "But that's not the point! I was just gonna ask if you three saw a bad guy tuggin' my steam boat around! But I can see you little pipsqueaks got yer selves a little attitude problem, so get lost!" Pete proclaimed. Never had he been so disrespected, especially by a bunch of unfamiliar faces. _

_Sora and Goofy, feeling a little guilty, put their weapons away. Donald still looking suspicious. _

_"Guys, I think we may have made a mistake." Said Sora. _

_"I think you're right," Goofy agreed. "He hasn't even called out any heartless." _

_"But it's obviously Pete! I'd recognize that gruesome mug of his and irritating voice of his anywhere!" Donald exclaimed. _

_Goofy lifts an eyebrow at Donald, where Sora just gives him the 'oh really?' look. "You're one to talk." Sora said. _

_"What?" asked Donald. _

_"As if you're voice isn't irritating." _

_"My voice isn't irritating! Daisy told me my voice sounds like an angel." _

_Sora gives him a look of disbelief. Did Donald really fall for that crap? But he shrugged it off, focusing on the matter at hand again. "Anyway, we got a door to find, and whether or not this is Pete, it doesn't look like he's gonna get in our way, so I guess we should just say sorry and get outta here." _

_Donald and Goofy were pretty content with Sora's idea and soon they walked up to the still frustrated Pete. He noticed them looking at him. _

_"Whaddya want? Can't you see I'm busy?!" _

_The three sweat dropped. Whether this was Pete or not, he definitely was irritating. Sora put his hand out to help Pete up. _

_"Hey...uh...sorry about that. We thought you were someone else." The heavy man hesitantly took Sora's hand as he helped him up. He dusted himself off while eyeing the boys, still not fully trusting them. With good reason. After all, they did just go off and 'violated' him for seemingly no reason. _

_"Hmph." He ruffed. _

_"Is your name Pete by any chance?" Goofy decided to ask. _

_"Ah, I see you've heard of me! Yep, a pretty nifty sailor, even if I do say so myself." _

_Sora begins wondering again. "Um...ever heard of the heartless?" _

_"Heartless? What are you talking about? I don't know what that is!" _

_Sora whispered in Goofy's ear, "You think he might have had his memory zapped?" Goofy only replied with a shrug. He was just as confused as Sora. _

_"Hm...well, anyway, we truly are sorry." Sora said once again. Donald crossed his arms and closed his eyes, stubbornly facing another direction. _

_"Tch, I'M not." Donald mumbled. How could Sora and Goofy be falling for this? There's no way they could trust Pete, he thought. _

_Sora, now getting annoyed with Donald's stubbornness, whacks him in the shoulder when Pete wasn't paying attention. _

_"Wak!" The duck exclaimed. _

_"Is that right?" Pete began, "Well, if you're really that sorry...how about you go out and find the little runt what stole my boat. Then I might actual believe this pathetic apology of yours." _

_Sora, trying to maintain his respectful manner, responds,"Okay." _

_Donald's eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything. Did Sora just forget that Merlin told them they have to find a door? Sora was in for a stern yelling after they got away from Pete. _

_"Well, whaddya waitin' fer? Hop to it, you little chumps!" Pete scolded. _

_Sora gritted his teeth, trying to compose himself from taking out his Keyblade and whacking Pete right where the sun don't shine. "Yes, sir." _

Kairi couldn't help but laugh. The way Sora told his stories made them all the more entertaining. She loved the humorous way he put things, even if he didn't mean it to be funny. He was so adorable. Wait, what?

"Yeah, I swear I was gonna knock him out. But we found out later on that we were in the past, and the Pete we were talking to was from the past as well, meaning, he hadn't become a doofus yet." Sora explained.

"You had some crazy times." Kairi said.

"Tch, that was nothing. That was probably one of the more lighter moments. Everything was going great until we went to Twilight Town the second time. I remember the first time we went to Twilight Town, too. It was where me, Donald, and Goofy woke up, and we met Hayner and the gang.

_Sora and his friends begins walking to a weird-looking area, with a gate opened and a red cloth hung over something. They decided to go back there, before Sora stopped. _

_He looked around the town, why did it look so familiar? He could have sworn he had been here before. Donald and Goofy notice they're short of a teenager with spiky locks sporting clothes that no longer fit him. _

_They turned around, and there he was. Zoning out again. _

_"I hate when he does that..." Donald simply said. _

_"Hey, Sora." Goofy tried getting Sora's attention back. Sora snapped out of it. _

_"Huh?" _

_"What's wrong?" asked a concerned Donald. _

_Sora gave his friends a smile. He was so glad to have them back. For some reason, he felt like he hadn't seen them in forever. Must have been some nap. _

_"Nothing." _

_Sora walks in with his buddies trailing behind. They take a look around, the area looked almost like a basement of a teenager. There were posters on the walls, a dart board, and some teenagers were lounging around on some pretty beat up sofas, chairs, and stools. _

_"What do you want?" one of the teenagers rudely asked. Today was just one of those days for him. He felt like he just lost someone important, but he didn't know why? His two best friends were right there, and it had always been just the three of them, right? _

_This boy had on army pants that went down to above his shins, a black shirt with a skull design on it, with a vest overlapping. _

_"Oh, uh, nothing. Just wanted to know what was back here." Sora replied nervously. _

_"We'll get out of your way now." said the odd-looking anthropomorphic dog. _

_"No, wait," Someone said. They looked up to see a plump boy walking up to them. He had on a red jersey which sported a odd design of a bone dog with the words "Dog Street" plastered vertically. The red jersey was overlapping a white T-Shirt of his, and he had on baggy jeans with a large pair of blue and white shoes on. He also had a headband to wrap up his shaggy hair. (yes, I am looking at pictures for reference :p)_

_"Have we er...met before?" _

_Sora takes a look at the pudgy boy. His face didn't ring any bells. "No, I don't think so." _

_"Hm, well, my name is Pence." _

_"Hey. Nice to meet you." Sora replied with his signature grin. _

_The girl, who was sporting an orange tank top with flower designs at the bottom, and beige khaki's, found herself looking at the human boy among the trio. She was a brunette, and had a nice reputation of being one of the cutest girls in Twilight Town. _

_She couldn't help but think about how cute that boy was. He had the most adorable features, but he could use some new clothes. The ones he were currently sporting made him look a little less attractive. Nonetheless, she introduced herself as she made her way towards him. _

_"Hi, my name's Olette." _

_The grumpy boy kips himself off the couch and starting walking out the place, they called, the Usual Spot. "Well, we're kinda busy, so later."_

_"What's his problem?" Donald asked as soon as the grouch made his way out. _

_Olette rolled her eyes, "Don't mind Hayner, he's being an idiot today." _

_"So, where'd you all come from?" _

_Sora and his friends pondered. How DID they end up here? And whatever happened to Ansem? The last thing they remember was chasing Pluto on a long road, but finally gave up and took a nap. _

_Sora woke up and followed down the path, finally making it up to a mysterious castle, and everything after that is just...blank. Even Jiminy's journal was of no use. Best they had was an entry that said, "Thank, Namine'.", whoever that was. _

_"Actually..." Sora began. _

_"We don't remember." Donald finished for him. _

_"You don't remember where you came from? Now that's mysterious!" Pence turned to Olette. "Shall I investigate?" _

_Olette shook her head. "Did you forget about the homework? We don't have time to be getting sidetracked." _

_Olette was always getting on the boys for not studying or incomplete homework. More so to Hayner, but occasionally Pence as well. _

_Pence pouted, "Aw, you're no fun..." _

_"Anyway..." Olette continued, "As much as I hate to agree with Mr. Grouch out there, we are kinda busy. But hey, come back here some time and we'll show you around the town." _

_"Sure." Sora said. "By the way, I'm Sora. This is Donald and Goofy. They're some close friends of mine." _

_Pence and Olette exchange looks, how familiar did those names sound. _

_"Hey, uh, do you three happen to know a short guy with large, round ears?" asked Pence. The three took a minute to think, but it grew obvious. _

_"The King!" They all responded in unison. _

_"I'll take that as a yes." Smiled Pence. _

_"He came here not too long ago looking for you. He said if we saw you, to go meet him at the station." Olette explained. _

_"The station, thanks!" Sora replied. _

_ ..._

_Later on, the three make their way inside. They had just done battle with a flee of nobodies and encountered the King, who was in a black coat for some odd reason, and he had given Sora a pouch full of munny. _

_They were tired, but excited. Why did the King want them to get on the train? It must be important. They had already bought their tickets and were heading up to the train, but it had not arrived yet. _

_"Hey!" Called a familiar voice. The three turned around to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette running up to him. _

_"Hey, what's up, guys?" Asked Sora. _

_"This may sound a little weird but...we came to see you off." Hayner awkwardly replied, given to the fact that he was being such a bitch earlier. _

_"I don't know why, but I feel like something we should do." Olette said._

_"Thanks, guys." Sora gave them his grin, to which they all gave grins back. The six newly made friends started up a conversation. Hayner apologized for being so grumpy earlier, and Sora and Donald told them about their previous adventure. Goofy only sat back and listened. Sora and Donald tried acting it out and were getting all hyped up about it, which caused laughs from the rest of the group. Sora and Donald could have made a great comedy duo. _

_Eventually, the train arrived. Donald and Goofy said their goodbyes, and waited on the train for their Keyblade wielding companion. _

_"Well, goodbye." Sora said. _

_"This is so weird," Pence started, "I feel as if I'm saying goodbye to a friend I've had for a long time. But how? We only just met." _

_"Hm...that's strange." Sora replied. _

_"Sora, you sure we haven't met before?" Asked Hayner. _

_Sora thought for a moment. Nope, only other teenager friends he remembered were Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Riku, and Kairi. "Positive. Why do you ask?" _

_Hayner thought for a moment. Why did he ask? He never seen this weird kid before. "I dunno." Hayner said, giving Sora a smile. _

_Sora couldn't help but return the smile, but for whatever reason, a tear began to drop down his eye. _

_Hayner and his crew were shocked. Why was he crying? _

_Sora noticed the odd stares and touched his cheek, feeling the salty stream drip down his face. "Oh!" Sora rubbed his eye out quickly. _

_"You okay?" Asked a concerned Olette. _

_"Y-yeah...don't know where it came from." Sora stuttered. Why was he crying? He couldn't figure it out. Sure, these guys were nice, but he had only just met them. _

_Hayner put a hand on his waist. What a weird kid. "Pull it together, man."_

_Sora rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed that they saw him get slightly emotional. "R-right...See ya." _

_"Are you gonna come back?" Asked Pence. _

_"Yeah, you should come back and hang out with us some time." Olette said. _

_"Yeah...I promise I'll come back." Sora always keeps his promises. Well, almost. There's a certain Blondie with a sketchpad he sort of gave a promise to, but that's another story. _

_Sora walked up onto the train, and turned around, giving them one final wave as the door shut. The three have sad looks on their faces. The train then began driving off, and Pence, still puzzled, still wondering why this boy was having such an affect on him in such a short time, walks with the slow moving train, peering into the window trying to see if he can recognize Sora one last time. _

_No avail, as the train starts driving at a more content speed, and Pence stops. The chubby boy sighs, he missed Sora already. He turned around to look at his friends, where he saw Hayner cross his arms and put his head down in thought, Olette not looking too bright herself. _

_After grieving in silence for a bit, Hayner finally spoke up, chuckling to himself a little. "What a weird kid..." he said. Brightening up Olette and Pence a little. Pence folds his hands behind his head and stares off in the distance where the train left. _

_"But..." Pence began. "you know...it feels like we've met him before."_

"Aw..." Kairi complained. "That's so sad."

"I still don't know what was up with me that day. But something tells me that Roxas had something to do with it."

"Roxas?" Asked Kairi. Then she remembered. "Oh, your nobody."

Sora nodded. "Roxas..." he murmured.

Kairi wasn't feeling this intense air. "Okay, enough about that, tell me more about your adventure."

And Sora did just that, he told her about all the worlds he visited, from Land of the Dragons, to the Pride Lands. He even told her about Tron's world and the 1000 Heartless battle, and how he thought Goofy died at one point. There were laughs, intense moments, and fun. Kairi secretly admired Sora for being able to visit so many worlds. Sure, she visited a couple, but never truly on her own. Sora was always there to pick up her slack.

Kairi found a new admiration for Sora once he was done with his story. He didn't even bother to tell her about what happened at the Organization's world, since she was there as well.

Kairi remembered the hug she gave him when they finally came into contact again. Oh, how she wished she could have given him a kiss instead of that lousy hug.

Truth is, even though Sora had doubts about Kairi returning the feelings he had for her, Kairi actually _does _like Sora, just as much as he likes her. Back when they were fourteen, and before the islands fell to darkness, Kairi liked Sora, but she didn't _like _like him. She thought he was cute, but that's as far as it went.

He was like a brother to her that she always had to take care of, and she was oblivious to the feelings he had for her. But once her heart went into his, she got to, in a way, get to know him better. Throughout Sora's first adventure when he first obtained the Keyblade, Kairi had gained so much respect and admiration for Sora.

The way he learned how to fight, the way he handled things, the way he matured. She was slowly starting to fall for him. She confirmed that she did in fact, fall for him, when he released her heart from his with Ansem's Keyblade.

_Donald and Goofy were waiting by a large heart shaped keyhole, which was pretty colorful, but was emitting darkness. The keyhole was the reason why Hollow Bastion was infested with heartless. _

_"Sora! Sora, look!" Donald yelled. _

_"The...the keyhole!" Panicked Goofy. _

_Sora had almost forgot about the Keyhole. He was so busy taking care of Riku, who was possessed by Ansem, seeker of darkness. Nowadays it had been confirmed that it was only Xehanort's heartless, but again, that's a different story. _

_Sora walked up to the Keyhole and whipped out his Keyblade, pointing it at the large assiduity. Nothing happens. _

_"It won't work. The Keyhole's not finished yet!" Goofy exclaimed. _

_Sora put his Keyblade away. "What can we do?" _

_The three sighed, thinking it was hopeless. But then, Donald's eyes shot open. "Kairi!" _

_"Huh?" Asked a confused Sora. _

_"I think we need to wake Kairi up. The Keyhole needs all seven Princess's hearts to be complete. But Kairi..."_

_"I see..." Sora said. "If we can free her heart. But...but how?" _

_His gaze fell to the black Keyblade that the possessed Riku used to combat with him moments ago. What did Ansem say earlier? It was-"A Keyblade that unlocks peoples hearts. I wonder..." Sora smiles. He know what he must do. _

_Sora begins walking up to the Keyblade, Goofy looking concerned. "Sora?"_

_Sora kneels down and picks up the Keyblade. Donald and Goofy exchange looks. No way was he going to do that! _

_"Sora, hold on!" Goofy yelled, panic being tattered across his voice. _

_"No, wait!" Donald exclaimed. He too was worried. Funny, because he couldn't stand Sora when he first met him. Now he was afraid of losing him. _

_Sora takes a good look at the Keyblade. His mind was set. Anything for Kairi. If saving her meant sacrificing himself as a price, well, he'd pay that price. Sora turns to his friends, their faces full of worry. He sure was going to miss them. He gives them that toothy, goofy grin of him, as if saying 'no worries'. With that, he places the edge of the blade to his heart, and sticks it right in. _

_Light from his heart emerges and Sora lets his hands down. The hearts of the seven Princess's manifest from the Keyblade and make their ways to their respective bodies, which were held in capsules down below._

_The final heart escapes Sora and makes it's way to Kairi, and Kairi's eyes immediately open. _

_Sora takes a look at the Keyhole, it becomes completed once Kairi gained her heart, that means she was okay. His job was done. He decided to close his eyes once again as he allows his body to be consumed. _

_Goofy is at a lost for words. Donald, however, can't bare to see this happen to Sora. He charges to his friend, his eyes a little watery, but he didn't allow them to fall. _

_"Sora...Sora!" the duck chants. _

_Kairi, bounces right up after hearing the duck yell Sora's name. She is horrified by the sight in front of her. "Sora!" _

_Kairi runs up to Sora, but right when she does, Sora's body facades into nothingness, light only trailing away. She can't believe her eyes, did Sora just do that...for her? What was that feeling in her heart? Why did she feel this way? _

_Donald was at a loss. He couldn't believe it. "Sora! COME BACK, SORA!" _

Painful, painful memories. But it was okay, because now they're here, and Sora is alive and well, with that smile of his. It looked almost identical to the one he gave Donald and Goofy before he freed Kairi's heart. Sora then turned to look at the sky, it was sunset.

"Man, we've been out here for a while, huh?"

"Yeah...I'm a little tired." Kairi said while yawning.

"I'll walk you walk home."

"Thanks, baby." Kairi said, not really meaning to let the second word slip out.

"Wha-huh?!" Sora exclaimed in shocked. _Baby? _Not that he didn't mind, hearing her say that to him actually sounded kinda hot, but it just came out of nowhere.

"I-I mean, baby! My mom's having a baby!" Kairi quickly covered.

"Oh..." Sora said. Was that a hint of disappointment she heard in his voice? "Cool." He finished.

Kairi turned around and smacked herself in the forehead. Her step-mother wasn't having a damn baby! Oh well.

Sora and Kairi walked down to the pier, where they took Sora's boat and went back to the town.

**A/N: Okay, this is my first attempt at a fic, I just wanted to try it out. :)**


	2. The Letter

**The Letter **

The sun was shining. Similar to that of the day before. Sora couldn't get Kairi out of his head. She was amazing. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but what was he to say? What if she didn't like him back? He could kiss their friendship goodbye.

Sora rowed his boat by the pier and hopped out of it. He was in the same uniform he always wore. He liked the outfit those sweet fairies gave back at Yen Sid's tower, and it doesn't show stains. And he thought he looked pretty good in it, if he did say so himself.

Sora looks off at the paopu fruit tree and sees his best friend, sitting on it, watching the sun burn furiously, and the ocean glistening from the sun. Sora smirks, Riku always had to have those "deep moments". He hasn't changed much. He's a lot more serious now after everything he went through when they were away, but he's still Riku at heart.

Sora made his up to the paopu fruit tree, running up there so that he could enjoy the sun as well. He jumped on the tree and landed below it. He leaned his head against the branch, watching the scenery with his best friend.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" Riku began.

"Nope. Nothing will." Sora answered.

Riku couldn't help but think back at their adventure. All the trials they went through, like at Hollow Bastion. They had endured so many different feelings. Fun, pain, sadness, happiness. Well, Sora did anyway. Riku didn't exactly have the most pleasant of adventures. That darkness eating away at him was no joke. He was suffering a lot, and all to help Sora. Thinking about all of that, it just made this peaceful paradise seem like nothing.

"What a small world." Riku thought out loud.

Sora agreed, but he had to remind Riku. "But...part of one that's much bigger."

Riku sighed happily. Feels good to be home. "Yeah."

Sora thought back to when they had defeated Xemnas.

_Sora and Riku were sitting in front of the shore, the realm of darkness, destroyed. The ocean was settling, and the breeze was cool and collected. _

_They closed their eyes, as the soft breeze caressed their hair and features. Riku suddenly felt something hit his foot. He looked down and saw a bottle had hit his foot. _

_Riku picked up the bottle, popped of the cap, and took out the paper that was rolled up inside. He rolls it out and looks at its contents. Kairi had wrote this, wonder how it got here. He had a hunch about who she wrote it to, though. Destiny was a mysterious thing. _

_"Sora." Riku said, breaking their relaxing silence. _

_"Hm?" Sora said, opening his eyes. Riku hands him the paper. _

_"I think it's for you." _

_Sora takes the paper and reads it. _

_Thinking of you wherever you are_

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend_

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish_

_And who knows:_

_Starting a new journey may not be so hard_

_Or maybe it's already begun _

_There are many worlds, but they share the same sky_

_One sky_

_One Destiny_

_ Kairi_

_Sora felt a tingle in his heart. As soon as he was done reading, light was shone on the two best friends. It was-_

_"Light." Riku said. _

_"The door to light." Said and awestruck Sora. Sora hopped up and put his hand out to Riku. He knows how Riku loves to be by himself and do things be himself, so Sora will just have to drag him along. _

_"We'll go together." Sora said. _

_Riku realizes his friend won't take no for an answer, as he just demanded they go together. Riku inwardly chuckles. "Yeah." _

_Riku takes Sora's hand and Sora helps him up. The two look at the door to light. Sora places the letter from Kairi in one of his pockets. The two then walk into the light, wondering where it'd take them. _

Sora looks up at Riku. "Hey Riku, what do you think it was? The door to the light."

Still naive as ever. Riku chuckles as he lands on the ground to face Sora. He puts a finger to Sora's chest, referring to his heart. "This."

Sora puts a hand to his chest. "This?"

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think."

Sora doesn't _fully _get what his best friend is talking about. But he smiles anyway, as a sign of appreciation.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi yelled. She ran up to her best friends, the bottle in hand. She stops in front of them, breathing heavily.

"Hey, what's up?" Asked Sora, slightly concerned.

Kairi held up a bottle with a letter in it. Sora noticed the King's seal on the letter, which made excitement start to well in his body. "From the King?"

Sora snatches the bottle out of her hand and opens the bottle up, shaking the rolled up paper out. Sora, along with his companions, read the letter.

**A/N: Yeah, I know, shorter chapter. Sorry. But I felt it should end right there. And know, it doesn't really say what it said in Re:Coded. This is my version, so it'll be as if Dream Drop Distance never existed. **


	3. Reunion

**Chapter 3: And So It Begins...**

After reading the letter, and having a personal Gummi Ship sent for them, piloted by Chip and Dale themselves, Sora, Riku, and Kairi headed off to Disney Castle.

It was a refresher for Sora to be able to see Chip and Dale again, but he couldn't wait to see Donald, Goofy, and the King again.

Riku, on the other hand, was thinking about the contents of the letter King Mickey sent them. In the letter, he told them about the return of Master Xehanort. Apparently, when Sora defeated both Xehanort's heartless and his nobody, the original being would return.

And thus, the return of Master Xehanort, and _they _had to find them. So much for his long awaited peace and quiet. Sure, he was glad to be able to see the King again, but he wished they were on more casual terms.

Kairi sensed Riku in slight frustration. She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, while Sora goofed off with the two chipmunks.

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

Riku glanced at her, then quickly looking away again. He didn't want to interfere, since he knew his best friend liked her, whether he wanted to admit it or not, but _goodness, _did she have to be so gorgeous?

"Nothing, it's just I was looking forward to relaxing a little bit." Riku answered truthfully. Kairi understood. She especially didn't want Sora to leave her again. But she had a Keyblade this time around, so hopefully, her and Sora would finally be able to fight together.

Sora remembered the first couple of times he was aboard the Gummi, oh how reckless was he.

_Sora was looking out the window, hugging his knees. He and his "friends" had just left Traverse Town, where he finally found Riku again. They were gonna let Riku tag along, but a certain loudmouth duck flushed that down the toilet. _

_Sora had gotten over it back when he was at the town. Maybe because he had the heartless to distract him. But now it just crept back up on him, and he realized that that could have possibly have been the last time he ever saw his best friend. Stupid Donald, why'd he have to ruin everything? _

_Donald felt uneasy, flying the Gummi Ship. He knew what he did back there was wrong. He should have let Riku come with them. But he had to remember that they were on a mission to find the King first, and find this kid's friends second. But that doesn't mean an apology was out of the order. _

_Donald gulped, not really wanting to admit any apologizing. He could see Sora on the reflection of the window. Boy, did he look sad. _

_"Uh...Sora..." Donald quacked. He shivered a bit when Sora turned to him with a very menacing look. He looked as if he could kill the poor duck any second. _

_That wasn't making this apology any easier. Donald tugged on his collar. _

_"Uh...I'm...I'm sorry about...what I said back there. You know, with your friend and all..." _

_Sora looked at him with the same look for a while, but eventually, he softened his face and smiled. "It's okay." _

_Donald was shocked. The selfish duck may have jeopardized the boys chance of ever seeing his friend again, and he still accepted his apology? _

_"You...forgive me?" Donald asked. _

_Sora nodded with his smile still bright. "Yeah, of course. You said you were sorry, and if you know what you did was kinda dumb, well, then I forgive you."_

_Sora was always a forgiving kind of guy. But Donald still felt that he was let off the hook too easy, but he wasn't going to complain. Teenagers who act like brats are the worst, anyway. _

_Everything was peaceful and back to normal, but then Sora came across the sight of a strange-looking world. It looked like some sort of jungle. Could Riku and Kairi be there? _

_He noticed Donald not land, though. Why was he skipping that world? What if his friends were down there? _

_"Uh, Donald, I think you skipped that world back there."_

_"Please, we're not going to that dirty mess. There's no way the King would be there." _

_Sora frowned, "Wouldn't hurt to at least check, don't you think?" _

_"Sora, let's not try to start things up. The answer is no." _

_"But what if my friends are down there? I got to at least check!" Sora cried. _

_"Like I care." Donald replied. The duck had gone back to his old ways. Of course he had learned nothing, and the Riku incident must not have even existed anymore. _

_"Land the stupid ship!" Sora yelled spontaneously, waking Goofy from his slumber. _

_"Fellers, let's not be too hasty..." Goofy said, trying to calm the two down. It didn't work. _

_"NO! I'M NOT LANDING THE FRIGGING SHIP SO SIT DOWN, BUCKLE UP, AND SHUT UP!" The duck retaliated._

_That was it for Sora, he got up out of his seat and starting pressing random buttons. Donald looked like he could have a heart attack. _

_"What the-! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" Donald yelled. _

_"Landing the ship, what do you think, stupid." Sora said, having lost all patience with the duck. The ship then made some uncomfortable noises and the ship froze. _

_"WAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKK! YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" _

_Sora rubbed the back of his head. Okay, so maybe that was a tad reckless. But in his defense, this wouldn't have happened if Donald weren't such a doofus. _

_"Oops." The boy simply replied. With that, the ship began plummeting below to the world known as Deep Jungle. _

Sora sighed, finding himself now sitting in his seat again. He looked out the window and saw the Castle coming into view, with a smile creeping on his face.

"We're here!" Dale called out.

* * *

Sora ran inside the hall of the cornerstone, he remembered where everything was from his last visit here. He saw Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Daisy all in conversation.

"Donald! Goofy!"

The two, upon hearing their name turned around to see the boy they bonded with so much over time.

"Sora!" They yelled out in unison. The two run up to Sora and the three share a big group hug. It had only been about a week and a half, but it felt like forever.

They had spent _every _day with each other for the past year, so not being around each other all the time was going to take some getting used to.

But they were back, the dynamic trio themselves, the three musketeers, the three who brought joy and light to countless different worlds.

They remembered the first time they met, back in Traverse Town.

_Sora had just finished kicking the tin butt of the Guard Armor heartless, with the help of these funny looking guys before him. They were looking for him? _

_"You were looking for me?" Sora asked. _

_"Yup! You're the wielder of the Keyblade, aren't ya?" Asked the duck. _

_Sora smiled. "I guess so." _

_"They were seeking the bearer of the Keyblade." Leon butted in. _

_"Yeah, like us!" Yuffie also chimed in. _

_Sora chuckled to himself. "Since when did I become so important?" _

_"So, you wanna come with us?" The anthropomorphic duck asked. "We could go to other worlds on our ship." _

_"A-and...Riku and Kairi..." Sora began. _

_"You'll find 'em!" Donald interrupted, secretly trying to fast talk the boy. He didn't necessarily care at the time if he they'd find Sora's friends or not. All he knew that he needed that Key, and this boy had it. _

_Goofy looked at Donald with an unsure look. Donald sensed what Goofy was thinking and tugged his ear down, whispering into it, "I know what you're thinking, but you wanna find the King, don't you?" _

_Sora put some thought into it, should he go with them? The duck didn't seem too trustworthy and the dog, er, thing, seemed okay, but still. _

_As if reading his mind, Leon pitched in. "Sora, go with them. Especially if you wanna find your friends." Yuffie nodded in agreement. _

_Sora thought about it. "You think so...?" Sora asked somewhat rhetorically. He looked sad though. At the time, he wasn't really acting like the happy-go-lucky carefree Sora he eventually turned into. He had just lost his best friends after all. _

_The duck noticed his frown. Boy, was this kid downer. _

_"You can come along, but not looking like that." he began, "Frowning, sad faces, scary faces, we can't let you on our ship with those faces." _

_The duck puts on a big smile on his face with a wink. "Smile! The ship runs on smiles!" _

_Sora thinks for a second. "Smiles, huh?" Sora decides to give it a shot. He dips down and pops back up with a biggest, cheesiest, toothiest, and goofiest grin he's ever plastered on his face. _

_The two looked at him for a moment, the suspense killing Sora. What were they going to say? Did they hate his over exaggerated smile? That all was thrown out the window when the two burst into hysterical laughter. _

_"Now THAT'S a funny face!" The dog exclaimed. The laughter of the two warmed his heart. For some reason, he felt warm and fuzzy with these two jokers, as if he belonged with them. _

_Sora figured he might as well tag along. What did he have to lose? _

_"Sure, I'm game. Why not? I'll go with you guys." Sora said as the duos laughter died down. The duck put on a warm and comforting smile. He place his hand in the middle of the air. _

_"Donald, then." The duck, claiming to be Donald, said. _

_Goofy followed routine. "Name's Goofy." _

_"I'm Sora." The boy smiled. This was going to be one hell of a ride. Sora put his hand on top of Donald and Goofy's. "I'll go with you guys." _

_"All for one, and one for all!" Donald exclaimed. _

Riku and Kairi walked in, giggling at the sight of Sora being reunited with his buddies. They were three peas in the same pot alright. Riku and Kairi greeted Donald and Goofy, they two had grown fond of the anthropomorphic dog and duck. Mickey let go of his wife's hand and walked up to Sora and Riku.

He took both of their hands in his, their ritual greeting. "I'd say long time no see, but it hasn't really been that long." Mickey said.

"It's been long enough, your Majesty." Sora replied.

Mickey rubbed the back of his head. "Gosh, guys, how many times do I hafta tell ya? You're close personal friends of ours. You don't need to call me that."

Riku chuckled, "Fair enough...Mickey." Riku winked, quoting what he said to the King back in Castle Oblivion.

"Well, I'd love for us to stay here and have a family reunion moment, but we really do need to get to work, fellas."

"Of course!" Said a determined Sora. "I want to get started right away!"

"What's the game plan?" Asked Kairi.

"Well, we're gonna need all the help we can get," Mickey began. "I visited Master Yen Sid, and he told me that he sensed Master Xehanort, and he had been reported to be travelling to multiple different worlds."

"What was he doing in those worlds?" Asked a puzzled Riku.

"Whelp, my hunch is that he's trying to find the gateway to the Betwixt and Between, where he will utilize the power of time travel to erase past events." Mickey answered.

Sora and Riku raise a brow and give each other a glance before turning back to the King.

"That's an awfully big hunch of yours. How'd you come to _that _conclusion?" Asked Sora.

Mickey chuckled. "I thought it'd be obvious. Remember what was on the wall in Ansem the Wise's office? The DTD?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy definitely remembered. "The Door to Darkness." Sora replied.

"Exactly." The King responded, "And we made sure that the Door to Darkness wouldn't cause any more trouble, so the only way to get the darkness to return is-"

"Time travel." Sora and Riku finished for him.

"Exactly." The King responded.

"I don't know," Kairi spoke softly. "I feel like that's too simple to be true."

"She's got a point." Riku added.

"Well, there's only one way to find out. But first, we're gonna need some friends to help us out." Mickey gave them a bright smile. "Off to Radiant Garden!"

**A/N: Tell me what you think about the story, I could always use feedback. Yeah, I'm sort of writing my own version of Kingdom Hearts 3, and we're just going to pretend that Dream Drop Distance never happened. **

**And I hope the flashbacks aren't getting too annoying. I tried changing the diolouge in them up so that'd they be at least a little more interesting to read. I won't be putting them in too much longer, but I feel that they are necessary, for they will add in emotion later on. **

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed random reader 8D! **


	4. Getting The Gang Back Together

"_I'll go with you guys." _

The Gummi XXI.

The King had a new model of the Gummi Ship built, and this one was ten times larger than the originals. Long ago, Mickey had this ship constructed just in case he needed to fit a lot of people in somewhere. Convenient, no?

Not to mention the inside looked pretty smooth as well. The exterior of the ship looked like the original Highwind, but was painted in blue and green colors rather than red and yellow.

After deluding themselves with the atmosphere, Sora, Riku, and Kairi decided to get comfortable. Sora went down in the basement hanger to spend some time with Donald and Goofy, which Kairi secretly did not approve. She wished that Sora would pay her a little more attention.

Oh well, at least she had Riku to keep her company.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Riku said, handing her a sea-salt ice cream bar. "They have some in the mini-fridge."

Kairi smiled and took her ice cream bar. She's loved them ever since Hayner, Pence, and Olette introduced her to them during her brief stay at Twilight Town.

"What's wrong, Kai?" Riku asked with sympathetic eyes. He hated seeing Kairi like this.

"Nothing...it's just..."

"Sora?" He interrupted. She nodded, inevitably. Riku didn't understand, Sora wasn't giving her the time of day at all, and yet he's all this girl thinks about. Here he was trying to be a good friend, and that's _all _she thought of him as: a good friend.

Why did she love Sora so much? What did he have that he didn't? Well, whatever it was, Riku wanted it. Another reason for Riku to be jealous of his best friend, like he told him back at the Dark Margin.

Riku silently bit on his salty yet sweet ice cream.

Down below, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were playing a game of "funny faces", a game they'd always play when things got a little too tense for their liking. It always cheered them up.

The three were laughing their heads off with Goofy's face, so hard that they all fell down on the soft rug below them. They laid down wit their heads all near each other, still laughing like old times. Soon it died down, and ended with a sigh exhaled by the three in unison.

"I missed you guys." Sora said, breaking the silence.

"We missed you too, Sora." Goofy answered, on Donald's behalf, which was okay, because he agreed.

"I can't wait to see Leon and the gang." Donald brought up.

"Yeah..." Sora agreed.

"So, Sora," Goofy began. "Did ya ever confess to Kairi?"

Sora blushes. Since when did Goofy bring this type of stuff up? Usually it was Donald who'd always tease Sora about Kairi.

"Uh...I don't know what you're t-talking about."

Donald sat up, rolling his eyes. "Please, Sora. Can you cut the act?" Donald said. "We all know you got a thing for the girl."

Sora pouted, "Is it that obvious?"

"You guys are always making googly eyes at each other, how is it not?" The duck responded.

"Besides," Goofy chimed in. "I don't think you do all that you've done for Kairi and not like her. For Pete's sake Sora, ya practically killed yourself for her."

Sora puts a smirk on his face and rubs his nose. "I did, didn't I?"

"You're gonna have to tell her some time, Sora." Donald admitted.

Sora sighed, knowing he was right. If he kept the emotions bottled up, he was going to get sick. And a broken heart isn't healthy when you're trying to save the universe..._again _if he may add.

They felt the ship land, then giving each other excited looks.

"Oh boy!" Donald yelled out.

The three scurried up the stairs.

...

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked out of the ship. King Mickey waiting by the door.

"Hurry on up, fellas. You three will go on and give them the details. They'll trust you guys the most, since you all are so close." Mickey exclaimed.

The reunited trio nod and walk off to go find their friends. They knew where to go. They were very familiar with the town now.

The three eventually make their way up to Merlin's place, but before they can enter the room, they are attacked by the Heartless. No, not simple shadows and soldiers, we're talking Behemoths, Invisibles, and Surveillance bots. There were tons of heartless surrounding them, some even from Tron's world.

The three took out their weapons. "There's so many!" Sora yelled.

"But we don't got much of a choice!" Goofy responded.

They all nodded in agreement and began fighting off the Heartless, slashing and bashing with all they had.

Sora started backing up while using his Keyblade to deflect all the blasts being blasted at him. He windmill flipped into the air while spinning his Keyblade, and he proceeded in knocking hard blows in mid-air against some of the flying Heartless.

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy were holding up okay. Donald was casting numerous spells to keep himself in tact. Goofy was doing the best he could with his lousy shield.

Sora landed on his feet, but as soon as he does, he performs multiple back flips to avoid a pillar being thrown his way. He tosses himself in the air, quickly using his Keyblade to slash the pillar into two pieces. Sora blasted the pieces back to the heartless by casting a Firaga spell.

Sora landed on his feet. He had learned how to fight so well over the years. However, he was caught off guard when he was ambushed by a multitude of heartless, knocking him to the ground. "NO!" He cried. "Donald...Goofy!"

"Sora...!" Goofy yelled out. Looks like they were in the same situation as him. This was it, this was how it all ended. Fine, as long as Sora could die with two of his best friends, that made it okay. Of course, he never told Kairi about how he felt...but...that's okay.

Just when all hope was lost, a high-pitched voice called his name. "SORA!"

Sora looked up in the sky to see Mickey diving down, his Keyblade in hand. Mickey impales a behemoth, light surrounding him. Mickey lands and immediately begins killing the heartless surrounding Sora very fancily.

Sora barely has any strength left. Once Mickey fights a few of the heartless off, he runs up to Sora.

"You got beat up pretty badly!" Mickey denounces. He spins his Keyblade with one hand before pointing it to the sky. "Curaga!"

Sora feels his strength return, and he stands straight up, giving the King a nod before the two face the heartless in their battle stances, back-to-back, soon joined by Donald and Goofy.

"What do we do?" Donald asked. "There's way too many..."

Good question. Sora himself didn't think they could survive this. Where were Leon and the gang? They were right in front of Merlin's house, did they not hear all the loud noises and battle cries?

Just then, a large Buster sword pierces through the heartless like a boomerang. Sora, Donald, and Goofy recognize that sword all too well.

The sword began spinning in fast succession in mid-air before a certain spiky-haired blond flipped down and caught before landing.

It was Cloud, clad in the same outfit he wore during the 1000 Heartless War some time ago.

"Cloud!" Sora and his friends cheered.

Cloud nodded in response before turning his attention back to the heartless, the other four doing the same. In the matter of about ten minutes of fighting, the five finally took down the raid of heartless.

After taking a moment to catch their breathe, Goofy decided to break the ice. "Cloud, do ya happen to know where Leon is?"

Cloud stands up, using his sword for support, speaking in his normal monotone voice, "Should be at Ansem's lab. They don't use Merlin's place as their base anymore."

"That makes sense. There's a lot more valuable information back at Ansem's study." Said Mickey.

"Why are you here?" Cloud asked. "Don't you know it's dangerous here? Heartless are coming in at an all-time high."

Sora pursed his lips, "In case you weren't paying attention all these months, it's kind of our _job _stop the heartless."

"You're in way over your heads this time around." Cloud continued. "Bigger heartless have been coming here, the town is almost in ruins now. The heartless war was nothing compared to this."

"That's exactly why we're here to stop it!" Mickey said enthusiastically. "We even have a hunch about who may be the cause of this. Ever heard of a man named Xehanort?"

"No." The swordsman simply replied before walking off to an unknown destination.

Cloud was always trying to be some hard ass who didn't give a damn about anything, but Sora and company were used to that by now. Sora knows better than anyone about Cloud's softer side.

_Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked up to Cloud, who was sitting by some steps to the exit of the Olympus Coliseum. _

_Cloud was at a loss. How could he let Hades trick him like that? He was one step closer to finding Sephiroth, now he took a hundred steps back again. He let his darkness take control. Sephiroth was in for some serious pain dished out with a certain Buster sword-wielding individual. _

_Sora sensed something was troubling Cloud. Even at fourteen years old, Sora cared about others and their well-being. He gave Cloud a smile with concerned eyes. "Hey, are you alright?" _

_Cloud looked up to see Sora looking at him. Cloud could almost feel the light shining within this boy. He closed his eyes and put mouth by his clasped hands. "Yeah." He answered simply. _

_Sora crossed his arms, "Why?" _

_Cloud looked back up at the boy. _

_"Why did you go along with him, anyway?" Sora asked. _

_"Hmph...I'm looking for someone, and Hades promised to help." Cloud began. "I thought the power of darkness would help, but it backfired. I let the darkness consume me, and the light became out of reach. I couldn't...I couldn't find the light..." _

_Sora uncrosses his arms, and gives Cloud his grin. "You'll find it." _

_Cloud looks down at the boy. _

_"I'm searching, too." Sora finished. _

_"For your light?" Asked the intense fighter. Sora nodded in response. He had lost his light when he was separated from Kairi, but he was beginning to find his light once again with Donald and Goofy. Cloud couldn't help but respect the boy, but he wasn't going to admit that. But he did take out a trinket of his, and he took Sora's hand and placed the trinket in Sora's possession. "Don't lose sight of it." He said while walking off. _

_Sora smiled as he looked down at the orichalcum Cloud had given him. He knew there was some light in him somewhere. Sora turned around and waved. "How about rematch some time?" The boy proposed. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved!" _

_Cloud stopped. He admired the boy's persistence, but he had his light to find. He flipped his hair back, "I think I'll pass." He simply answered. _

_Rejected. Oh well, at least Sora was able to get a little bit of that light out of him. Sora smiled as Cloud made his way. _

Soon, Sora found himself in Ansem's lab. It seemed empty.

"Hello!" Goofy yelled out. "Leon!"

"Anybody home?" Mickey yelled out.

Soon, Aerith walked out from the lab portion of Ansem's study to see what all the racket was. "Hey."

"Hi." They all replied.

"I'm guessing you all have seen the situation outside?" Aerith asked.

"Yup. That's why we need to talk to you all." Mickey answered. "Where's everybody else?"

Aerith gestured them to follow her as she led them inside the lab. In there were the likes of Cid, who was typing on the computer, Leon, Yuffie, Tifa, the Gullwings, and Merlin.

"Sora!" Yuffie cheered out.

"Wow, you guys really do have some good timing." Leon said, smirking with his arms crossed.

**A/N: I know, lack luster reunion, but remember it's only been about a week since Kingdom Hearts 2 ended, so it really hasn't been that long since they were last together. **

"We'd love to chat, but we have some business to attend to." Mickey said, getting straight down to business.

"We were thinking the same thing." Merlin responded.

"We think we may know who's behind this mess," Mickey continued. "But we have a bad feeling that he's stronger than ever at this point. Which means, we need all the help we can get. And even though it's not exactly safe to be bringin' folks from world to world, we trust you all."

They all exchanged glances, wondering if they should agree.

"Sure, we'll help you out." Tifa answered.

"On one condition..." Leon interrupted.

"Yeah! You give us all of your treasure!" Rikku chimed in, temporarily going back to her old ways. Paine whacked Rikku in the head, annoyed with her immaturity. "Ow!"

"If you want us to help ya'll out, you gon' have to help _us _out first." Cid answered.

"You didn't have to ask," Smiled Sora. "We're all friends, right? We would have done it anyway."

"Forgot who I was dealing with again." Leon muttered.

"As long as you didn't forget about us this time!" Donald yelled out, recalling what the gang told them last time, receiving chuckles out of everybody.

"So, what do we need to do?" Mickey asked.

"I got a hunch that there's somethin' messin' with the town's data system," Cid began. "Some idiot musta hacked into the town's data and reconstructed it for total anarchy. I asked Tron if he knew about it, but he couldn't decode the original source."

Sora, crossing his arms in thought, tries to process what Cid just explained. He was never the brightest when it came to technology and computers. "So...um...basically, the file Tron used to restore Hollow Bastion into Radiant Garden...someone messed it up?"

"That's the basic way of puttin' it." Cid answered.

"So, uh, how do we fix it?" Goofy asked.

"Tron said he needed to send us another reprogramming disc." Yuna answered.

"We sent it to him, but he hasn't responded back since. We're starting to get a little worried about him." Said Aerith.

Sora stepped up and bumped his fist. "Don't worry, we got this!"

"We know," Leon smirked. "So, think you can handle this?"

Sora whips out his Keyblade and twirls it around a little, but just to show off a little. "We took out the MCP, didn't we?" Sora rests his Keyblade on his shoulders.

"Okay," Leon responded. "We're have you take Tifa with you, since she knows how to hack into the I/O Tower communication signals."

"Huh?" Donald asked. Since when did Tifa enter Space Paranoids?

As if reading his mind, Tifa answered, "I go in there from time to time to train. I've never met Tron, though. Anyway, you mind me tagging along?"

"No way!" Sora answered. He always thought Tifa was super hot anyway. About time he got some eye candy (besides Kairi) when he was out adventuring.

"Okay, here's the plan," Leon spoke. "I'm going to go out and check up on things outside. I want Yuffie and Mickey with me to go to the Bailey and secure it. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, you guys head out into town and protect any civilians. Aerith, you stay here with Cid. Cid, keep working on finding that data. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Tifa...you know what to do."

"Right!" Everyone agreed.

"Alright, let's do this!" Rikku yelled out, and once she did, everybody broke out to do what they were told.

Sora types on the computer, remembering what buttons needed to be pressed in order to get simulated.

Sora, Tifa, Donald, and Goofy run up in front of the simulator and allowed themselves to be sucked into the computer.

...

Meanwhile, in Gummi XXI, Riku and Kairi were still lounging around. They were given the orders to protect the ship while the rest of them were out recruiting. They sure were taking their sweet old time, though.

Kairi had changed her outfit to a more athletic friendlier outfit. She had on a white tank top that didn't cover her belly button, some short shorts to show off her creamy legs, and her hair was tied into a pony tail.

Riku couldn't help but glance a couple times. She looked really good in that outfit. If Sora were here, his nose would be bleeding for sure.

"Damn it," Kairi started. She was beyond bored at this point. "What the hell is taking them so long?"

Riku looked out the window. Hollow Bastion looked a lot different from the last time he was here. He didn't even know it was renamed Radiant Garden. "It looks pretty bad out there. I'm sure that they might have ran into some trouble."

That was possible, Kairi hadn't thought of that. What if Sora got hurt? "Should we go out and look for them?"

Riku shook his head, "Mickey would kill us if something happened to this ship."

That was also true. But still..."What if Sora gets hurt?" She replied.

Ugh, this again. "You...you really like him don't you?"

Kairi hesitated, but she nodded.

"I mean, do you _like _him?" Riku asked.

Kairi stood up and took a few steps from Riku, her back to him, and her arms behind her back. "Riku," She started. "I think I'm in love him."

And there went his heart. Broken like an old record. But it made sense, after all, Sora went through hell to protect Kairi. What had he done? Given into the darkness. So he couldn't be mad at Kairi for loving Sora, and he couldn't be mad at Sora for being the caring guy he is. Only himself he is angry with, for not doing what Sora did all that time, and that was care about his friends.

He did a miserable job of that.

"I see." Riku simply replied.

...

Sora opened his eyes. He rubbed his head and tried to remember what he was doing. Then the memories flooded back. He was supposed to be finding the reprogramming disc Cid sent to Tron.

He looked around and noticed he was in the Pit Cell, the room where he first met Tron.

_Sora walked up to Donald and Goofy, who were staring out the window. The place was very vertigo, lights shining everywhere and data programs were roaming about. It almost looked like some kind of futuristic city. They had on new outfits, too. They lit up and looked kind of weird, but cool._

_"What kind of place is this, anyway?" Sora asked rhetorically. _

_"I don't get any of this..." Donald complained. _

_"You're all inside a computer system." A voice said to them, not very familiar either. _

_They turned around to see a man in a suit similar to theirs. He looked almost like a man in his mid-thirties, but there was something off about him. _

_"Huh?" Goofy simply asked. _

_"Wait..." Sora stalled._

_Sora and Donald looked at each other for a moment, then yelled out in unison, "YOU SAID WE'RE INSIDE A COMPUTER?!" _

_The man sweat dropped while chuckling nervously. These were definitely users. "Lively, aren't you?" He began. "Allow me to explain. This computer system was a copy of a system created by a corporation called 'Encom' that was used for a variety of data processing. Not long after, this copy of the system was acquired by another user who modified all the programs to suit his desires, renaming the program, 'Hollow Bastion OS'. He used the system to keep up with the town maintenance and his own personal research. My name is Tron, I was a security program on the system, but as you can see, I'm a prison here, just like you. I'm going to guess you three are users." _

_Sora and his friends sweat dropped. They didn't get a word he just said. "Uh...users?" Sora asked. _

_Tron chuckled, "Users, the ones who use the system for their own use." _

_Sora rubbed the back of his head and glanced at his two comrades, asking them what he should do. They shrugged, being just as stumped as him. Sora figured the best thing to do was just introduce themselves. Baby steps, baby steps..._

_"I'm Sora." _

_"I'm Donald." _

_"Nice to meet ya, Tron, I'm Goofy." And so a friendship was born. _

Sora stood up and took a look around. He was noticed he was back in his computer outfit. But what he did noticed was that Donald and Goofy weren't around, but only a beautiful black-haired boxer on the ground.

Sora ran up to Tifa and shook her awake. "Hey, wake up, Tifa."

The girl moaned as she fluttered her eyes open, to see the fifteen going on sixteen year old looking at her with concerned eyes.

_"_You okay?" Asked Sora.

She nodded her head in response. Sora helped her up to her feet, where she was still wobbly and dazed, but quickly came back to her senses and regained her balance.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Never been in the sector before?" Sora asked. She nodded 'no'. "This is the Pit Cell. It's where I first met Tron."

Tifa noticed they were short of two other heads. "Where's Donald and Goofy?"

"Dunno." Sora said while walking up to the locked that imprisoned them, he spin-slashed it and flipped up into the air, pointing his Keyblade at the lock, unlocking it with his Blade. Tifa was quite impressed, she had never truly seen Sora in action, save one time, but she was fighting too, and wasn't paying much attention to him.

Sora landed and turned back at Tifa with a smile. "But I'm sure they're okay. Now come on, let's go find them and Tron."

Tifa nodded as she followed Sora on the platform that led them deeper into the system. Tifa decided to start up a conversation with Sora, might as well bond with him, since she's never taken interest in getting to know him before.

"So," She started. "When did you first get that Keyblade of yours? You sure do know how to use it."

Sora chuckled, "I got it when I was fourteen. Almost a fluke, honestly, it didn't even choose me first. It chose my best friend, Riku. But he fell to darkness, at the time, of course."

_Sora ran up to Riku, who was near the paopu fruit tree, staring off at the huge black hole consuming their island. "Where's Kairi?! I thought she was with you!" _

_Riku in a trance, answered in a monotone voice, "The door...has opened." _

_Sora raises a brow. "What?" _

_Riku turned around to face his friend, a slight smirk on his face. "This is it, Sora! This is our chance to finally be free to go to the outside world."_

_"What about Kairi-"_

_"Kairi's coming with us!" _

_Sora was taken aback by Riku's sudden anger. What had happened to his charismatic, cocky, and confident friend? He wasn't the boy standing in front of him, that's for sure._

_"The darkness isn't to be feared Sora, we can't let fear stand in our way. This may be our only chance. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku put his hand out, gesturing Sora to come with him. _

_Sora wasn't exactly comfortable with this side of Riku. "Riku..." _

_Then, darkness was beginning to engulf Riku. He couldn't just let his friend be. What the heck was Sora going to do without Riku? Sora reached out, trying his hardest to grab his friend's hand. Riku was acting like a mere statue, a weird, calm look in his eyes as he watched his best friend struggle. _

_Sora couldn't do it, he couldn't get to Riku. Then, a light appeared, flashing before him so hard it nearly blinded him. When Sora opened his eyes, Riku was gone. But in his hand was a Key...or was it a sword. The words 'Keyblade' echoed in his head. _

"Sounds intense." Tifa replied after Sora was done with his story. The two were walking down a large hall. Seemed peaceful enough, too peaceful to be honest. Both kept their guard up, the heartless could strike any moment.

Sora was walking with his hands folded behind his head. "Yup, pretty crazy stuff. But hey, I ended up having a great time. I don't know why, but I keep reminiscing my past journeys lately. I don't know why..."

"Nostalgia?" Tifa asked.

"Maybe," Sora answered. "Funny, because I spent a majority of the time wishing I could so home, or least see Riku and Kairi again. Then I got that, and then I started wanting to go back out and do it all over again."

"I think the adventure lifestyle has just gotten to you." Tifa concluded.

"I think you're right." Sora agreed.

Tifa sensed a sprinkle of sadness in his tone when he said that. "You okay?"

Sora grinned at her again, but even though it was convincing, she saw right through it. Something was on Sora's mind. "Yeah, of course!" Sora said.

Tifa grabbed Sora's arm and stopped him. "No, seriously..." She started. "What's wrong?"

Sora gave up. She wasn't taking no for an answer. "Okay, just promise not to laugh."

"I won't."

"Okay, well...the truth is, there's this girl I really like...and I don't know how to tell her how I feel." He explained.

"Why would I laugh at something like that?" She smiled.

"Because it's corny." He answered, despite the fact that everyone he knew always considered him the king of corniness.

"Who is this girl? It's not...m-me, is it?" She asked hesitantly.

Sora looked at her like she was nuts. Sure, he thought she was sexy, but he like her like that. "No. She's a girl my age. Aren't you like, thirty anyway?"

Tifa's eye twitched. "I'm twenty-two! Do I seriously look thirty to you?"

Sora shrugged, a smirk on his face.

"ANYWAY," Tifa started again. "It's pretty easy, Sora, telling a girl your feelings. Tell them how you feel. Simple as that."

Didn't seem so simple to the Keyblade wielder. "What if she doesn't like me back?"

"You'd be surprised," Tifa started. "You'll be so glad to have gotten your feelings off your chest that you'll get over it quicker than usual. It'll hurt at first but it won't be so bad."

"Speaking from experience?" Sora asked.

"Nope," Tifa smiled. "I just know these things."

Sora rolled his eyes playfully. Just then, of course, a fume of heartless pop up, surrounding the two very skilled fighters. They get in their stances and ready up, while Sora whispered to her, "You ready for this?"

Tifa smirked. Sora was already growing on her. But she had a feeling he had that affect on a lot of people. "Aw, hell yeah." Was her response.


	5. Space Paranoids

**Chapter 5 **

Donald and Goofy were wandering around the familiar sight of Space Paranoids. They had woken up about fifteen minutes ago and were confused as to why Sora and Tifa weren't with them, but they had faith in them that they were okay.

Well, Donald did. Goofy was still a little worried. "I hope Sora's okay..." he brought up. Donald just rolled his eyes.

"When is Sora NOT okay? I'm sure he's fine, Goof." Donald assured him.

Goofy nodded, even though Donald's back was towards him. After a little more walking, they came across a light glowing on the floor. Goofy raised a brow.

"What's that?" he asked.

The two hovered over the light, examining it. It wasn't familiar to either of them. There weren't any glowing lights the last time they were here, were there?

Goofy, being an idiot sometimes, started poking the light. Donald's eyes looked like they popped out of his head for a second.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT YOU BIG PALOOKA!"

"Huh?" And with that, the two were transported somewhere.

...

They opened their eyes and realized that they were in the game grid, and there were heartless all over the place!

"See?!" Donald said as he strangled Goofy, comically, of course. "Look what you did!"

After Donald calmed down, they noticed Tron was fighting off the heartless with his discs.

"Tron!" The two yelled out in unison.

Tron looked over to find the source of the two familiar voices, and saw Donald and Goofy waving at him. "Donald, Goofy!" He waved back, but was soon hit by one of the many heartless.

"Wak!" Donald quacked.

Donald and Goofy took out their signature weapons and began battling the heartless with Tron.

...

Meanwhile, Radiant Garden had turned into a war zone. Leon, Yuffie, and the King were doing their best to fight off the heartless. They had been battling for the past twenty minutes.

Everything was okay at first, only about ten heartless they could easily handle. But eventually, the numbers grew, and the heartless got more fearsome. Now they were using all they had to stay alive.

"We're not getting anywhere like this!" Leon yelled in between slashes.

"You got any idea 'bout what we should do, then?!" Yuffie yelled out, frustrated.

She had a point. It's not like they could run. All they could do was fight and pray this gauntlet would end.

...

In the town, the Gullwings did their best to fight off the heartless. They had got all the civilians back to their homes and out of the area, and then the heartless grew larger. What could be causing this?

However, the heartless they were fighting all miraculously were destroyed, one by one, and no more came. They didn't complain, and started catching their breathe, that was, until, a grimy hand grabbed poor Yuna's throat, choking the life out of her.

She tried gasping for air, but to no avail. The thing that was choking her was in mid-air, afloat, and his silhouette looked that of an old bald man in an unbuttoned trench coat.

"Yuna!" Rikku cried.

Paine couldn't watch this anymore. She flew towards the being choking Yuna, malicious attempts in her mind.

"Get the hell off her!" Paine screamed, only to be swatted back easily by the figure.

Yuna was now in tears. She couldn't breathe.

Finally, the figure spoke, "Where's Sora?" He asked. His voice was old and cracking. He had a sinister smirk on his face.

Rikku felt shivers go up her spine.

...

Sora and Tifa were still battling the heartless.

Sora spun into the air and performed a wicked strike raid, killing a good ten heartless in one blow. He caught his blade in mid-air and landed on his feet, beginning to spin while casting a large number of Blizzaga spells at the creatures.

Tifa was punching and kicking the oncoming beasts at a fast pace, until she flipped into the air and blasted the heartless with an energy blast. She landed into a windmill spin kick, and behind her she saw Sora backing up while deflecting more bolts being shot at him.

She decided to be of some help to him as she flipped over to him and hooked arms with him, where the two proceeded into spinning together in unison, Sora blasting with his Keyblade with Tifa blasting with her hands.

The two ended their combo attack when Sora spin kicked one of the heartless off, continuing to back flip onto Tifa's shoulders, then jump off of them, again, blasting heartless with his Keyblade.

Tifa flipped up into the air next to Sora, where the two began blasting at the heartless, back to back. In the midst of this, Tifa grabbed Sora's arm and tossed him to a large group of heartless, where Sora pierced through amass amount of heartless like a boomerang.

Sora then used a foot to regain balance on a wall, then proceeding to slash through the heartless with his fancy combo moves.

Tifa too was fighting the best she could. Trying to hold the heartless, doing a pretty good job of it too, until one of the heartless got her distracted and was hit, sending her across the hall.

While she was falling, Sora caught her in mid-air, the two spinning in unison again until Sora through her right back to the heartless that hit her, her fist extended as she dived at the beast.

She connected with a hard punch as she landed, knocking out a good amount of heartless with the force of her punch. Sora landed next to her, and when he did, all the heartless disappeared for some reason.

The two barely broke a sweat. They made a surprisingly great team. They turned around and high-fived each other.

"Great job!" Tifa said.

"You two, you were awesome!"

"We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah, we do. I never thought you and me of all people would kick so much butt!"

"And lookin' good while doin' it!" The two laughed together, but soon stopped when they noticed explosions coming from down the hall.

"What's that?" asked Sora, rhetorically of course. The two, now much closer friends made their way down the hall.

...

Tron, Donald, and Goofy had made their way out of the game grid and were running towards the I/O Tower, Tron in a panic.

"We have to hurry! If we don't get to the tower fast, gosh, I don't even want to think about the possible results." Tron cried.

The three stop when they hear a loud explosion come from the I/O Tower.

"Uh-oh." said Donald.

"Hey!"

The three turn around to see Sora and Tifa running up to them.

"Where the heck were you?!" asked Donald.

"We could ask you the same thing!" Sora retorted. His eyes grew wide when he saw Tron. "Tron!" Sora ran up and gave him a big bear hug, perhaps taking a page out of Yuffie's book.

Tron chuckled, he missed his enthusiastic Keyblade companion. "I love you too, fella."

Sora put Tron down and more explosions are heard from the Tower.

"Sora, I fear we may be too late." Tron said in a sad tone.

"Don't say that," Sora said optimistically. "We can still get in there and find that disc, as long as we stick together." Sora turned to his friends. "Now who's with me?"

They all nodded in agreement. Tifa walked up to Tron and put a hand on his shoulder. "So, you're the Tron we've heard so much of."

"That's me, alright. I'm guessing you're a user?"

"Yes, I'm Tifa."

"Pleased to meet you." Tron smiled.

She returned the favor, but then turned serious. "Now Tron, how exactly are we supposed to reprogram the town?"

"Simple, find the disc, extract the bugs that have been placed in the modified copy, and send it back to Cid. He should be able to put the new copy into good use." Tron explained. Seemed simple enough.

"Okay, let's do this!" Sora yelled in excitement, but before they can do anything, a big black portal appears behind them, the force of the wind being enough for them to recoil slightly.

Out the portal comes an old man with a white beard. He has on an outfit similar to that of Xehanort's heartless, however, this man is bald and his eyes yellow. He begins walking to the five with his back slouched and his hands behind his back, the clump of his boots become louder every step.

"Sora," the old man croaked. "It is time to fulfill your destiny." The old man uses the force to pull Sora towards him.

"Wha-" Sora started. Soon Sora found himself knocked unconscious and slouched over the old man's shoulder.

"Get away from Sora!" Donald cried as he ran towards this creepy old man.

Of course, Donald was no threat. The man flipped into the air and used a wind attack to send Donald flying back and knocking into Tron, Goofy, and Tifa. He was pretty crafty for an old geezer. Soon, he disappeared into a dark portal.

The four looked up to see him gone, in shock after what they just witnessed. Soon the explosions in the Tower began to increase, and started making their way towards the four.

"We've got to get out of here!" Tron yelled. The others most definitely weren't going to argue as they all started sprinting away from the fire. Soon, Tron pulled a disc from his back container. "Get ready to jump!" He told his three companions.

They figured he knew what he was doing and agreed to do so. Tron then whisked the disc in the air, and it turned into a fairly big hover board. It was big enough to support about five people.

They all soon jumped onto the disc and Tron began air surfing away from the explosion.

"Whoa, Tron!" Tifa started.

"Tron, since when did you have this?" Goofy asked.

"Nice, huh? It was in a reprogramming module Cid upgraded for me." The program explained.

After a while of avoiding the oncoming fire, the four made it back to the Pit Cell, where the Access Channel was.

They got of the board and it turned back into a small little disc, which Tron stuffed back into his back container again. He started working on the Access Channel while Donald, Goofy, and Tifa played lookout for the explosion.

After about fifteen seconds, Tron got the Access Channel to work. "Got it!" Tron stood up and turned to his friends. "Now, hurry, get out of here! There's not much time!"

The three put on very concerned looks. "What about you?" Donald asked.

"It's okay," Tron began with a smile on his face. "I may be destroyed, but as long as there are users, I can be restored. You guys on the other hand, are what you users call _toast_ if you don't return to Radiant Garden."

Still, Tron was about to die, even Tifa didn't want to see that happen, and they had just met. "But..."

"No, really, it's fine." The program continued. "Go ahead, find Sora. Save the world, and once you've done all that, tell Cid to restore me and all my functions. I'll be good as new!" Tron smiled. He seemed so okay with it. Hanging out with Sora, Donald, and Goofy all that time made him so strong and brave. It was okay to him.

"Okay...c'mon, let's get out of here." Tifa said to Donald and Goofy. They nodded, still a little disappointed. They walk up to the terminal, and Tron presses a button on the terminal.

The three light up, signalling that they're about to leave. Tron gives them a thumbs up. "Good luck."

They all waved goodbye and are transported back to the real world. Tron looks out at the explosion gaining on him. He crosses his arms and sighs with a peaceful smile. _'Tis well..._

...

The three emerged back in the lab where they find the computer shutting down. Sadness takes over their features, but remember that Tron said the computer system could be rebuilt, and he could too. They all nodded at each other with determined looks.

Then they all noticed something was missing. Cid and Aerith should still be here. They run out into Ansem's study to find Aerith and Cid on the ground. Unconscious? No. But worn out and beaten up.

Tifa tries to wake up Cid, while Donald and Goofy work on Aerith (O.O Don't breed into that second part too deeply). Cid eventually woke up, but Aerith actually was knocked out.

"Ugh..." Cid groaned.

"What happened?" Tifa asked.

Cid rubbed his head. "Whaddya think? Those damn heartless..."

"It's that bad?" Tifa asked.

"Bad? It's atrocious."

Tifa helped Cid up and slumped him on her shoulder. "Come on, lets get out of here."

"Are you insane?!" Cid yelled. "It's chaos out there!"

"We hafta get to the Gummi Ship. It ain't safe in this world." Goofy said. Donald nodded in agreement.

Cid sighed, "Fine, fine. Let's just hurry, alright?" Cid pushed himself off of Tifa and stumbled a bit before regaining balance. "I can walk." Cid walked up to Aerith and picked her up, slumping the brunette over his shoulder.

With that, the five make their way out of the study.

...

After a hard fought battle, Mickey, Leon, and Yuffie were worn out. About a minute ago, the heartless miraculously disappeared. They weren't going to complain, however.

Soon, as if on cue, Riku ran up to the exhausted trio, running up to Mickey first inevitably. He was closest to him anyways.

"Mickey!" He knelled down and started checking his friend for injuries. Fortunately, the mouse had none. Mickey was tired, but he wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah..." The King answered.

Riku noticed Yuffie and Riku. "What happened?"

"Heartless...a billion of 'em." Mickey huffed. "Where's Kairi?"

"Back at the ship, where else?"

"You left her unprotected?!" Mickey yelled.

"We're about to leave now, aren't we? Let's just hurry back to the ship." Riku looked around. "Where's Sora, Donald, and Goofy?"

"Uh, long story..."

Soon a portal appeared, and out the portal came the same man from earlier. He walked up to them, identical to the way he had done so earlier.

Mickey looked at him, and the memories came back. His eyes widened in realization, it was as if he saw a ghost. "Master Xehanort!"

Riku glanced at Mickey with disbelief, then back at the said "master". Riku was in shock. "No way."

Master Xehanort chuckled. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Eleven, going on twelve years, I believe."

Riku looked at the King, "Mickey, what is talking about?"

"I'll explain later. For now, let's focus on the task at hand."

Riku nodded in understanding, and the two whipped out their Keyblades in unison.

"Ah," Master Xehanort began. "But there will be no 'later', my dear mouse friend."

Cid, Tifa, Donald, and Goofy ran up behind them, Aerith still unconscious on Cid's shoulder.

"Sorry we're late." said Cid.

"Where's Sora?" asked the King.

Master Xehanort chuckled. "That would be my doing."

"I swear, if you hurt him-" Riku threatened.

"Relax pretty boy, he's alive. For now, anyway." Master Xehanort replied with a chuckle. "Now, if you don't mind, I think it's time we bid farewell to this 'radiant garden'. Not very radiant at all, if you ask me."

"No one did." Tifa spat.

"Too true," Xehanort replied. "Which is why I have the urge to dispatch ourselves with it."

The old man snaps, and when he does, in the distance, the heroes all see a big dark portal beginning to engulf the world.

"The world...it's going to cease to exist!" Mickey yelled out. Everyone was starting to get panicked, and with good reason.

Master Xehanort smirked as he opened up a portal. "Farewell." The old man walked his way into the portal. Riku and the King shared looks and nodded.

"We have to save Sora." Mickey said to the friends behind him. "Get to the ship, and fast! Donald and Goofy will show you the way."

"I already put Merlin and the girls in the ship, so don't worry." Riku said.

"Wait-where are _you _going?" Cid asked.

The two began jogging towards the portal, that was close to closing.

"We have to get Sora back!" Mickey answered.

Donald put his hand out in attempt to stop them. "Your Majesty!" Too late. Riku and Mickey disappeared into the portal and it had disappeared.

Snapping out of it, Cid yelled out to the rest of them. "We have to go!"

Donald nodded and began leading the group to where the Gummi XXI was.

...

Kairi heard knocking. She walked up and opened the door to see Donald, Goofy, Yuffie, and Cid with an unconscious Aerith walk in.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Why the rush?"

"This world is about to vanish!" Goofy answered. "We better skedaddle!"

Tifa was about to run in before she saw Cloud running from the Market Place, she waved at him. "Cloud!"

Cloud stopped. "Tifa."

"Need a lift?" She asked.

Cloud hesitated. He knew if he got on board, these guys were going to pressure him into working with him, and he preferred keeping his distance. But Radiant Garden was about to cease to exist, and so would he if he stayed.

Cloud nodded and ran into the ship with Tifa.

Goofy, panicking, starting pressing buttons trying to figure out the ship. "How are 'spose to get outta here?! What am I supposed to press?!" Goofy pressed one button and the whole inside of the ship turned into some sort of disco party setting.

"Really Goofy? Really?" Said Kairi, annoyed. This was not the time to be fooling around. But Goofy didn't mean to do it.

"Sorry, I'm just a little panicked..."

Cid roughly shoved Goofy out of the way. "Move, you blockhead! I'll be pilotin' this thing!" Cid looked over. "Somebody shut that damn door!"

Everybody froze. Boy, Cid sure was scary when he was frustrated. Tifa quickly shut the door. Cid started the engine.

"Wait, where's Sora? Where's Riku and Mickey?" asked a worried Kairi.

Donald patted her on the back, his eyes sad. "We'll explain in a minute."

With that, Cid flew the ship off just in time, as the world was engulfed in darkness.


	6. Destiny

**Chapter 6 **

Darkness.

That's all Riku can describe at this point. That's all he sees, that's all there _is_. Was this death? Last he remembered was running after Master Xehanort into a dark portal with the King. And then...nothing. Everything was just blank.

Eventually, however, Riku's aqua orbs meet the overwhelming light surrounding him. Riku using a lot of power to stand up, considering his limbs are still numb and throbbing.

That's when he takes in his surroundings. He's in a large white room with thirteen chairs all risen above him. On the surface he's standing, is the symbol for Nobodies.

He noticed that Mickey wasn't by his side, but those thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind when he saw Sora sitting in a chair that was not risen like the others. He seems to be unconscious. "Sora!" Riku cries.

He jumps off the platform and begins sprinting to his best friend, but not before a figure appears before him. The person is all too familiar, with his long silver hair and orange eyes.

"Xehanort's heartless!" said Riku. The one who pretended to be Ansem smirks, hitting Riku back onto the platform.

Riku clutches his stomach in pain.

"You won't be getting near our vessel." Xehanort's Heartless says as he steps onto the platform.

Riku opens one eye while looking at the Seeker of Darkness. "Vessel? What the hell are you talking about?"

"We were originally planning to use you," he began. "but you developed an impressive resistance to darkness. So, like the Keyblade, we just went down the list. Organization XIII's goal is to split Xehanort's heart into thirteen vessels. You should give yourself and Sora some credit. We realized that some candidates weren't up for the task."

Riku, while rising to his feet, smirks at the one who once possessed him. "You mean like you?"

"Details." Ansem quickly ignored that topic. "In any case, within Sora, we have found our thirteenth vessel."

"Thirteen Xehanorts? There's no way you can even possibly-"

And before the teen could finish, black coated figures began popping up into the seats all around Riku. Ansem chuckles at Riku's naivete.

"Allow me to introduce you to the _real _Organization XIII." Ansem chortled.

"The Organization?!"

"Before I became a heartless, before any of this ever happened, my original self gave my past self a goal, and that was to gain as many recruits needed to create thirteen darkness's. There are many different past versions of Xehanort here to fill in some of those honors, but their are also some who have not much to do with Xehanort at all. All this was put into place beforehand, for the events that were to occur." Ansem puts on a smirk, "And so today, we stand as we wait for the war to commence," Ansem looked up at the tallest chair in the room, which was being filled with darkness. "He can vouch for that..."

Suddenly, a light pierced in front of Xehanort' Heartless, knocking him back a few. "Stopza!" The light is so bright, Riku shuns his eyes.

A huge dome surrounds the chairs of superiority, and Riku opens his eyes to see Mickey standing in front of him. Mickey turns around and gives his friend a smile. "I hope I'm not too late."

"Mickey..." Riku walks up to Mickey with a warm smile on his face. He kneels down and places a hand on Mickey's shoulder. Thank God he was okay. Then Riku's face turns into a frown. He starts shaking the life out of the poor King. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! I WAS ABOUT TO FREAKING SHIT MYSELF BACK THERE!"

"WHOA! Calm down, Riku! I'm here now!" Mickey cried. Riku calms down and puts the King down. The King dusts himself off. "And watch the language there, too."

"Sorry, it's just...what happened to you?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I was lookin' for you after we entered the portal. Luckily, I found my way here. We don't have much time left, so let's just grab Sora and get outta here."

"Right." But before they can move, Mickey is thrown across the room, hitting one of the invisible walls. "Mickey!"

Riku turns around to see a young man with yellow eyes, silver hair, and a complexion similar to that of Xemnas. But this wasn't Xemnas, this person looked a million years younger.

"Who are-"

"I am a young Xehanort." The young man replied, knowing Riku's painfully obvious question. "I am the one who set this entire meeting up. I retrieved all the vessels sitting here."

"But I thought," Riku began. "I thought Xehanort's Heartless-"

"Please." Young Xehanort responded, annoyed.

Mickey walks up next to Riku. "Give us some answers." The King demanded with persistence in his voice.

"I am the one who went into the future and past, to find the thirteen vessels that would fill these spots, to serve as the thirteen darkness's in the war."

"What are you talking about?! What war?!" Riku asked furiously. Good thing Sora wasn't awake. If _Riku _didn't know what the hell was going on and was frustrated, _Sora_ would have cut his own dick off by now.

"Calm down, Riku." Mickey assured his frustrated comrade. Mickey didn't quite know what was going on himself, so he understood. But fighting wasn't going to get them anywhere at this point, only answers.

"My older self gave me the mission to seek out the Xehanorts of certain periods in time, and create this gathering today. Now, I shall go back to my own time, and allow the destiny I have set to take its course." Young Xehanort replied.

Riku couldn't believe this. There was going to be a war, a _war_, and Sora was to be with them. Riku whipped out his Way To Dawn Keyblade and lunged towards the man self-claiming to be young Xehanort. "You bastard!"

Riku swipes his Keyblade, but when he looks up to see his results, young Xehanort has vanished. He stands up and the Stopza spell facades, with time resuming itself.

Mickey gasps as he looks up at the tallest chair of the bunch. "Master Xehanort! We were right about you!"

Riku turns around and looks up to see who Mickey is speaking to, and of course, it's the bald, withering yet cunning old man from earlier. Riku scowls at him.

...

After explaining the situation, Kairi is bawling her tears out.

"I can't believe this! Sora's gone, he's dead!" She cried. Tifa is patting her back, trying to comfort her, but failing miserably.

"Kairi, we told you, we don't know if he's _dead_ necessarily...we just don't know where he is." Tifa explained.

A concerned Goofy walks up to Kairi and pats her on the back as well. "Cheer up, Kairi." he started. "You should know, that Sora wouldn't just give up on you like that. Someone had to remind me earlier, that Sora's okay. He's always okay." Goofy said that last part winking at Donald, who was sitting across the room.

"Are you sure?" The Auburn beauty sniffled.

"Positive! A-hyuk!" Do I even need to tell you who said that?

Kairi puts on a weak smile while sniffling, Goofy did have a presence that made her feel a little bit better. "Thank you, Goofy." she said with gratitude.

Goofy nodded in response.

Yuffie was in the back, spinning her Shuriken. Her face just screams lazy. "I'm so bored!" she obnoxiously yelled out. "Where are we going anyway?"

"To the castle, check up on the Queen, make sure she's alright." Cid answered from the front, where he was flying the ship, and doing a pretty good job too.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Isn't there like a TV in here or something?"

"Oh, sure." Goofy responded as he walked over to a button and mashed it with his fist, and out popped a plasma flat screen TV right over by Yuffie.

Everybody gazed at the TV in awe except for Donald and Goofy, because they knew it was there, and Cid, because he's badass and doesn't give a damn.

"Why didn't you tell us about this like an hour ago?" Yuffie asked with a look of disbelief.

Goofy shrugs with a grin. "You didn't ask." Goofy chuckles, "You gotta love the classics, hyuk."

Cid's eyes widen when sees a terrible fate up ahead. "Everyone," he yells back. "Fasten your seat belts, 'bout to be a bumpy trip!"

And soon, Cid starts fuddling his way through a huge meteor tornado. The rest of the crew start to get a little worried as the trip does, in fact, begin to get bumpier.

Merlin runs up to Cid and whacks him on the head. "You libelous buffoon! Look what mess you've got us in!"

"I'm tryin' to concentrate if you weren't payin' no attention!" Cid responded.

"Fine, fine, hurry and get us out of this before someone gets hurt." The wizard replies.

"So shut up already!" Cid angrily yells. It's not a secret that Merlin and Cid aren't too fond of each other, constantly bickering and whatnot.

Cid does a good job keeping the ship from hitting any meteors...but nothing goes without a hitch these days. Cid ends up getting the ship hit by one of the meteors, and the hit is hard enough to knock Donald and Goofy out the window.

The gang run up to the broken window.

"Donald! Goofy!" Leon yells out to them.

"YAAAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HOOOOOEEY!" yelps Goofy.

...

**Two Days Ago**

_The lights flickered on in Ansem the Wise's old computer base. A man opened his green eyes, taking in his surroundings. He has red hair styled into slick-back spikes, and a relatively chiseled face. _

_He stands up and looks around, noting that many familiar people were unconscious around him. The man looks in the reflection of the computer, and the teardrop markings he had under each eye is now gone. _

_"Oh..." he said simply as he touched his face with his finger. A dark portal appeared from behind him..._

_... _

Okay, back to a more serious note.

"Master Xehanort! We were right about you!"

Master Xehanort looks down upon the two with a smirk, as if triumphant. "All of this was decided." he said with his rough, scratchy voice. "My twelve selves would welcome me this day, and I would return a complete person."

"What do you mean?" asked the confused King. "We saw you earlier when you destroyed Radiant Garden."

"Ha, such naivete. That was my young self in disguise as me, to keep his existence in the balance for just a little while longer."

"Why are you doing this?" Mickey asked, now getting a bit more frustrated.

"In ancient times, people believed that light was a gift from an unseen land known as Kingdom Hearts. However, Kingdom Hearts was safeguarded by its counterpart, the X-blade."

**(A/N: For those of you who are unfamiliar with the KH series or just haven't played certain games in the series, "X-blade" is pronounced Keyblade. Don't ask me why, that's just what they decided to do.)**

Master Xehanort continued, "That light was desired by many, and it created the foundation of the "Keyblade War". In the midst of the gory battle, the X-blade was shattered into twenty pieces. Seven of light, and thirteen of darkness. And the only real Kingdom Hearts was taken by the darkness."

Master Xehanort decides to get more comfortable as he crosses his legs and leans on his fist on the arm rest. He smiled with his know-it-all eyes. He looked almost bored as if everything he were saying was _completely _obvious "I once tried to create my own pure light and darkness, and forge the X-blade, as I'm sure you remember, my dear mouse friend. I suppose it doesn't take a scientist to guess that my attempt ended in failure. In my anxiousness, I lost sight of the true way to achieve my goal. I acted rashly, I can admit that now."

Master Xehanort cracks his fingers by simply moving his fingers around. The fact he was so nonchalant was starting to seriously piss King Mickey off. Mickey points an accusing finger at him.

"What do you mean, acted "rashly"? Rashly isn't nearly a strong enough word to express what you did. What you did back then, your mistakes, changed the destinies of three of my friends!"

Master Xehanort still had on that smirk, "Ah, but destiny is never left to chance. It only _is._ I merely guided them to their proper places. I remember it like it was yesterday, the broken boy who failed to be the blade, the misguided master who sacrificed herself for a friend, and the feckless youth that became my new vessel."

Mickey lowers his head in shame. "I couldn't find a way to save 'em, but the only thing that kept my spirits a little high was trying to convince myself that their sacrifices stopped you for good. But how? How was I so blind?" Mickey began putting the pieced together. "It should have been obvious, as soon as Maleficent started collecting the seven princess's of heart."

"Yes. They were all my doing," Master Xehanort admitted. "I used the wench to find seven pure lights for me, just as I prepared thirteen vessels of pure darkness."

"But you failed," Riku chimes in, after taking in all the information he had just gathered. "Sora stopped in your tracks on both counts." Riku gave Mickey a reassuring nod as they frowned at Xehanort once more.

Master Xehanort can't help but smile, secretly respecting Sora's unexpected triumphs. "Yes, he did, didn't he?" He sets his gaze on Sora, who is still unconscious on the thirteenth chair. "That dull, ordinary boy. A Keyblade wielder unlike so many I've ever seen."

Master Xehanort sits up in his chair. "However, I have not ceased my ambitions. The seven guardians of light, and the thirteen seekers of darkness."

Mickey ponders. "Seven guardians of light? Well, for Keyblade wielders, there's me, Riku, and Sora...then there's my three friends, that makes six. Then the seventh would be..." Mickey gasped in realization and looked around at the twelve cloaked figures around him. "Then, the thirteen seekers of darkness..."

"Yes, little King," Master Xehanort said. "Very perceptive. But Sora, and another on your list belong to me, and that puts you three guardians short. But don't fret, all the pieces are destined to appear. Your seven lights, and my thirteen darkness's, whose final clash will beget what I seek-"

"The X-blade!" Mickey and Master Xehanort said in unison.

Master Xehanort stands up in his seat, and summons his dark Keyblade. "And now, it is time for the thirteen darkness's to be united. The chairs have been filled, and now the last vessel shall bear my heart like the rest!"

Master Xehanort does some kind of technique with his hand, and the chair Sora's sleeping body is sitting in ends up rising.

Mickey and Riku started panicking, they were about to lose their friend.

"No!" Mickey cried.

"Sora!" Riku panicked.

The two sprinted towards Sora, but as they did, two cloaked figures teleport. Mickey starts making his way up to Sora, but before he can, a cloaked figure grabs him by the collar and shoves him up against one of the pillars for the chairs.

The figure takes off his hood, and reveals himself as Xemnas, a smirk planted on his lips.

Riku runs, ready to help out the King, but he is soon pinned to the ground from behind by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, who now has on a black coat himself.

Sora's chair completely rises to the point where it is completely vertical to Master Xehanort. The old man lets out a slight chuckle as he points his Keyblade at the fifteen-year old, letting out a blast that will surely consume Sora with darkness. Riku and Mickey look up with worried expressions, and the blast connects.

"No!" Mickey yells.

Master Xehanort chuckles, but his face goes ajar when the smoke clears and the man once known as Axel is standing with his Chakrams, having blocked the shot. He has Sora in his arms, and Xemnas can't believe his eyes.

"You!" said Xemnas.

Axel, or what he prefers to be addressed as now, Lea, lifts his head with that confident smirk on his face.

One of the members in cloaks slams his fist on the arm rest as he takes off his hood, revealing himself as Xigbar. "Axel!" he yells in frustration.

"Axel? Please. The name's Lea. Got it memorized?"

"Well, "_Lea"_, you're not supposed to be here!"

Lea shrugs. "Sorry, can't help it. I was wandering the realm of darkness 'till I found this place, so I figured I'd crash your party. Hope you don't mind, but these little guys you're tuckering around are my friends...kind of. So, if you don't mind, I'll put a little roadblock in this little plan of yours. You had your little script, but you kinda forgot to write the sequel. Now, let's see what happens!"

Xigbar, frustrated, yells up at Master Xehanort. "What now, you old coot? Our time is up!" Despite Xigbar's needless complaining, Master Xehanort smiles devilishly.

A cloaked figure hops up and lunges himself towards Ax-*cough* I mean, Lea, and summons his Claymore in the process.

He clashes weapons with Lea, and during the struggle, the cloaked figures hood reveals his all too familiar, cold, emotionless face.

Lea gasps, "Isa!"

After some effort, Lea escapes Isa by somersaulting to the bottom. Mickey summons his Kingdom Key D Keyblade, and he attempts to spin-hit Xemnas, but the former nobody teleports away before Mickey can connect his hit.

Riku also tries to hit Ansem, but also misses. He gets up to his feet as Mickey and Lea land by his side. "Why are you here, Axel?" asked Riku.

"No, my name is Lea! And that's not very important so how about we get outta here?"

Mickey gives Le-o-or, Ax-or, WHOEVER a look of determination. Fuck...

"Right!" said the mouse king. But before they can go anywhere, Ansem releases his Guardian.

The Guardian swoops down and grabs Riku and Mickey, who begin struggling for some type of willpower. Nothing works, they can't break free.

Two darts of light flash in the sky, and everyone looks up to see what it is. Of course, it's none other than Donald and Goofy, who end up falling on top of the Guardian before splatting on the surface.

The Guardian evaporates slowly and Mickey and Riku land safely.

Donald opens his droopy and tired eyes. "Were we supposed to do that?" Donald asks to no one in particular.

"I think so..." Goofy replies.

Riku and Lea chuckle, while Mickey is overjoyed to see his pals. "You did it, fellas! You saved us!"

The twelve seekers of darkness begin fading, turning into somewhat of a haze. "We are out of time," Master Xehanort begins. "Neither the union of light nor darkness has been achieved, so we must all whence where we came. But the gathering of the seven and thirteen...that, you cannot escape. Let us meet at the fated place where your lights and my darkness's have joined together."

The thirteen disappear, leaving Mickey, Riku, Lea, Donald, Goofy, and an unconscious Sora. Mickey scowls at just transpired. So it was set. Apparently, seven lights and thirteen darkness's are destined to combat for the X-blade, and there's nothing they can do to prevent it. Master Xehanort was right about one thing, destiny is never left to chance. Whatever happens, happens for a reason. And that reason may be the destruction of all he has ever known.

So much at stake and so little time. This must have been what Sora's first two trials were preparing him for, and they all had been played for fools by Xehanort. They fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

How could the King not have seen it sooner. It was all his fault, in his opinion, if he had figured it out back when he first sent Donald and Goofy out to find Sora, things wouldn't be as bad now.

Now the fated battle hangs in nigh, and all they can do is follow their instincts, and let the pieces fall into place, as Master Xehanort said. What more can they do? It doesn't matter if Mickey tries to prevent it, the results will be the same. This is not only a war for the X-blade, but for the universe as well.

Mickey puts his Keyblade over his shoulder and turns to his fellow companions. He lets out a weary sigh, "Let's go."


	7. The Ape Man

**Chapter 7:**

Cough, cough, cough!

That's exactly what a spiky-haired individual was doing when water was splashed all over his face.

Sora rubbed his head and sat up. He looked around to see Riku, Mickey, and who he still knew as Axel, looking at him with relieved expressions.

Sora, acting as if nothing happened, gives them a smile. "What I miss?"

Not long after, he gets the life sucked out of him with a sandwich hug from Donald and Goofy.

"Sora!" the two said in unison.

Sora chuckles, getting pretty used to them doing this. "Hey, guys."

The two let go of Sora and Riku helps Sora up. "What happened while I was out of it?" asked the awaken boy.

"Well, while you were slacking off, the rest of us were saving your be-hind from being another Xehanort." Riku explained, half-jokingly.

"Half...Xehanort?" asked the confused boy.

"We'll explain the situation in a second," said Lea.

Sora looked at "Axel" with a huge smile. "Hey, Axel! How are you...um, what's the word?...Alive?"

"My name's Lea, okay? Commit it to memory," Lea explained.

"Master Yen Sid told me once that when someone's nobody and heartless are destroyed, their original self reemerges." explained Mickey.

"Makes sense..." said Sora, nodding in understanding.

"But we got something else you _might _want to check out," explained Riku.

"Okay." Sora simply said. He began following the rest of the group. He noticed they were in some kind of jungle-looking area. "By the way, um...where are we? This place looks kinda familiar..."

"It's the place where we met that ape man, remember?" Donald explained.

"Oh, right! Tarzan!" Sora said in excitement. "I wonder where he is..."

Soon, they come across a big bush, walking through and Sora sees something very interesting. Laying on a log, was the body of his nobody...

"Roxas..." Sora said in a worried tone. "How did this happen?"

"While you were asleep," explained Riku. "We went to go fetch you some water, and when we came back, there he was. Sleeping next to you. So we took his body and placed it here."

"I see." said Sora.

"This is actual a great thing!" Mickey exclaimed in excitement. "This means we have someone else to help fill the spot of the seven lights!"

"That is," Riku said, "if he wakes up."

That put a downer on everyone's radar. Especially Lea. Roxas is his best friend, after all. Lea walks up to Roxas and places a hand on Roxas' face. "Hang in there, partner..."

Sora lifts a brow. "Should we leave you and my other self alone for a second there, Lea?" he jokes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a 'thing' for Roxas."

Lea retrieves his hand. "Like I haven't heard _that_ one before."

"So," Donald begins. "What now?"

"Gosh, I don't know," the King admitted. "I didn't give anything to Cid or Leon to communicate with. I guess...we'll have to find them."

"That sucks," said Sora. "Hey, um, whatever happened to Kairi? Is she okay? Nothing happened to her while I was out of it, right?"

Riku smirks. "Don't worry, Sora, your girlfriend's fine as far as we know."

Sora sighs a sigh of relief. "That's good. Wait, what?! She's not-"

"Oh my _god,_" complained Lea. "Please don't tell me we have to start with the annoying cycle of 'oh I don't like her' to 'oh she's not my girlfriend' and then eventually 'oh my god I can't stop thinking about her but I won't admit even though it's _painfully _obvious to everyone except me and her'. Seriously, can't the fucking author get fucking creative?"

Everyone looks at Lea with confused faces. "What are you talking about?" asked Riku.

"Huh?" Les asked. "You didn't know?"

I forgot to tell you, Lea, you're the only one who I'm allowing to break the fourth wall and actually _know _this is just a fic. So, fuck you :p.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Lea responds, sarcasm oozing out of his voice.

"Are you okay, Lea?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Yo, author, can you just wake up Roxas up already? I'm getting bored here!" Lea yells at me.

Which he better watch that tone of his because I'm pretty much playing god and can do whatever the hell I want.

"You realize I can hear you, right?" Lea asks. That's the whole idea.

"Whatever, can you just wake up Roxas?"

Fine. Roxas' eyes start to open, where he sees the sun glisten upon the sun. He groans when we wakes up, and it's a sound that Lea particularly enjoys, since he used to use his penis to make Roxas make those sounds some time ago, anyway.

"SHUT UP!" Lea yells.

Sora runs over to Roxas and pats his back while Roxas lets out some coughs. "Oh man..." are Roxas' first words. "Where am I?"

Roxas notices Sora. "Sora?"

Sora gives Roxas a smile with proud-looking eyes. "Hey, buddy."

"Hey, but uh...what exactly is going on here? How come we're face-to-face?" asked the confused blond.

"Well..." Sora started, not really knowing how to answer that question.

Lea gives Roxas a man hug. "Roxie, buddy, you made it!"

Gay.

"SHUT UP, LIKE SERIOUSLY!" Lea yells at me. Roxas is happy to see him, though.

"Axel, it's great to see you." Roxas said with a smile.

"My name is, Le-" Lea sighs. "Fine, Axel it is." He says with an understanding smile.

Of course he doesn't get mad when _Roxas _calls him Axel. Gay.

"I SWEAR TO GO-" Lea cries.

Riku walks up to Axel. "Hey, even though you're acting really weird right now, that was impressive how Roxas woke right when you asked him to."

"How'd ya do it?" Mickey asked as well.

"I'm telling you guys, this is just a made up story by some dork who has nothing better to do. Matter of fact, we're not even really us! Yeah, we're really video game characters." Lea explained.

The rest of them look at him like he's a maniac. "Lea, are you sure you're okay?" Goofy asked, putting a hand on Lea's shoulder.

"Yeah, Lea, you seem to be a little out of it." Mickey said.

"Oh _ha ha_, author, that's so _fucking _funny!" said Lea. "So funny how _now _everybody's calling me fucking Lea! Fuck, dude!"

Quit cursing, seriously, or I'll have you killed by the end of this story.

Yeah, that shut him up.

Lea looked over at Roxas, and even though he was glad to have his best friend back, he wasn't as excited as he thought he'd be. Perhaps it was because _Axel _had more of a relationship with Roxas than _Lea. _And even though he retains the same memories and same personality as Axel, he couldn't help but not be emotional.

"That makes no fucking sense." Axel complained.

I'm just gonna ignore him this time.

"You go on ahead and do that," Axel continued.

Anyway, they all get distracted when an arrow comes flying through, with Riku nearly getting hit if he weren't so cautious. He ducked just in time.

Just then, they hear a battle cry, and out of the bamboo lunges in an ape man with long locks and in nothing but a cloth to cover his genitals.

The man kicks Riku straight in the gut, sending him back a few. Quickly flipping back and kicking Axel as well, which I personally got a kick out of. He then elbows Axel in the face and grabs him roughly by the collar, shoving him into the air.

"Why the hell are you here?!" the insane, paranoid man asked. "Are you hunters?!"

"Chill your balls, dude, we're not hunters, we just sort of came here by accident almost!" Axel reasoned.

"Yes, we mean no harm." Mickey explained.

"Hey," a soothing voice said to him. The ape man turned around to see three very familiar faces. Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"How's it been, Tarzan?" Donald asked with a smile.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Tarzan said excitedly. He then noticed Axel and set him down, "Sorry."

Axel dusts himself off in annoyance. Tarzan turns to Sora and friends.

"Tarzan, let us introduce you some pretty important people," Goofy started. He pointed to King Mickey. "This is his Majesty King Mickey of Disney Castle."

"Hiya!" Mickey said waving. How friendly.

Goofy pointed to Riku. "This is Riku, and he can wield a Keyblade like Sora." Riku gave a friendly salute. "This right here is Lea, but you can call him Axel."

"Got it memorized?" Axel said, pointing to his brain.

Goofy pointed to Roxas, who was still sitting on the log, trying to figure out just what _thee _hell is going on, "And this is Roxas, he's uh...er..." I mean, what is Goofy gonna say? He's Sora's nobody? That would mean a lot of confusing explanation that isn't necessary.

Sora does some quick thinking, "He's my twin-brother."

"Oh, I see." Tarzan responded. "Well, it's a good thing you three are here, or else I would have," Tarzan chuckles nervously, "torn these guys apart."

Axel rubs his collar again, remembering the events that occurred moments earlier. "Yeah, we noticed," he said sarcastically.

"Well, since you're all here, why don't we head to the tree house?" Tarzan asked.

"Tree house?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy asked.

Tarzan laughed, "It's where we live nowadays. Come on, I'll show you."

Tarzan gets on all fours and leads the way, the rest of them, including Roxas, followed.

"Wow, Tarzan," Sora started, "you're English has gotten a million times better. I feel like I can actually have a conversation with you, now."

"Jane's a great teacher," said Tarzan.

...

"She still hasn't woken up," said Tifa. Tifa, Rikku, and Yuffie were all surrounding the still unconscious Aerith in the guest room, where there's a bed, TV, and a mini-fridge. It's a comfy place.

"I know," Yuffie started, "I've never seen her so pale."

Soon the door opens, no knock or anything, and in comes Cloud, his face blank as usual. "Is she okay?" Cloud asked, his voice monotone.

Yuffie inwardly chuckled, knowing Cloud was really worried about Aerith but wouldn't dare admit it.

"Still the same," Tifa answered. Although his expression did not change, one could easily tell he was disappointed.

"Okay," he replied. Cloud begins walking back out, but a tender arm grabs his shoulder.

"Wait, Cloud," Tifa said, her hand on his arm. He stops, it looks as if time has frozen in the room. "Um," Tifa began, "are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine," he simple answers as he loosens his arm gently and walks out of the room.

Meanwhile, Kairi is in deep thought as she looks out the window. So many different thoughts going through her head. She was so worried about the others, Riku, the King, Donald, Goofy, and especially Sora.

Her expression was cold and blank, as if you couldn't read what she was thinking if you looked at her. Leon decided to take a seat next to her, which Kairi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She had a look that said, 'what the hell are you doing? Can't you see I want to be alone right now?', but Leon didn't care.

"You seem troubled." Leon said, breaking the ice.

No shit, she thought, as her only response was a shrug as she turned to the window.

"Sora," Leon began with a chuckle, "he's an idiot. But that's why we all love him. He's always worrying about the needs of others before himself."

_So? What else is new? _Kairi thought. She didn't know where he was going with this.

"I remember when I first met him, I thought there was no way the Keyblade could have chosen him. But, as time progressed and he matured, it became apparent. His will to win and keep things optimistic grew on me. I remember I used to be a complete, hopeless loner. I didn't particularly enjoy being surrounded by others. I still kind of don't, but I've gotten better."

Kairi was going to rip her hair out if he didn't get to the point.

"I was always grieving for the fact that I couldn't protect Radiant Garden, and that I let the Heartless plunge it into darkness."

Okay, maybe she was being a bit harsh.

"But then I met Sora. I'll admit I was a tad jealous at first, because he was chosen by the Keyblade, and not me. I knew the one chosen by the blade would be the one who could end Maleficent's tirade. I guess I just wanted to be that person. Maybe it would relinquish those feelings I had about myself, my self-loathing. But Sora...he changed me. I mean, how can you not be in a good mood when he does that stupid grin of his." Leon smirked.

Kairi loved Sora's goofy little grin. She always thought it was cute. Kairi giggled at that, if only Sora were here, though.

"Sora is a great person. I don't think I've ever met someone like him before. Sora is the key..." Leon said, smirking. Then he turned to Kairi. "With all that in mind now, Kairi, tell me...do you love Sora?"

Didn't even have to give it a second thought. "Yes." She answered. In that moment, she started glowing.

"You should tell him when we find him."

"But what if we don't find him?"

Leon put a hand on her shoulder, "We will."

...

They all climbed up the ladder. And Sora was stunned at the sight before him, it was Jane, and Sora couldn't help but stare. Only two words could describe her from Sora's point of view. FREAKING. HOT.

Sure, she was attractive the last time he was here but woo...WOO! People say a woman is beautiful when she's in love, Sora now has confirmed his belief in that saying. Don't get him wrong though, Kairi's still the only gal his eyes are set for.

"Sora! Oh my goodness, I can't believe you're here!" Jane said as she ran up and gave Sora a hug. She still had a thick English accent.

For someone who lived in a jungle, she sure did smell nice. Donald and Goofy wave to her.

"Hey, Jane!" Donald said.

"Donald, Goofy!" She cried as she hugged them, "I thought we'd never see you again."

"We kinda thought that, too, but hey, we're here." Sora said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Likewise." Jane responded. Jane was definitely gorgeous and mature down, with her figure being equivalent to a supermodel at this point, and she wore a yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a long green dress with part of the side cut off to show a little of her leg. She let her hair down, though. Then turned her gaze at the unfamiliar faces of the bunch.

"Oh, sorry," Sora apologized for not introducing her to them, "these are a couple of friends of ours. This here is Roxas, my twin brother. This is Lea, but he goes by Axel. That's Riku, my best friend. He was one of the friends I was looking for the last time I was here. And this is Mickey. He's a good friend and is the king of Disney Castle."

Mickey and Roxas gave her smiles and waves, but Riku's were about to fall out of his head at how hot this chick was. Axel was giving her his 'sexy' look. Axel slid over to Jane and grabbed her hand.

"Wow, babe, I gotta say, you're looking real good in that outfit," he wooed.

Jane looked at her plain outfit. "This?"

"Girl, I'm sure you rock everything you wear. Anyway, how 'bout me and you ditch this loser crew and do some jungle lovin'?"

Awkward. Jane bit her lip out of pure embarrassment. "Sorry," she began. "But I'm married to Tarzan, so I must generously refuse."

"You married Jane?" Goofy asked Tarzan.

Tarzan nodded, slightly embarrassed.

"Aw, why didn't you tell us?" Sora said as he, Donald, and Goofy congratulated and teased him.

But Axel was confused. How did 'Mr. Lettin'-It-ALL-hang-out dude get _her_? But in all honesty, he was actually jealous of Tarzan because his private was WAAAAAYY bigger than Axel.

"Seriously? We're going there?" Axel complained.

Donald looked around and noticed something. "Where's Kerchak?"

Tarzan and Jane looked at each other with sorrowful expressions.

"Kerchak," Tarzan began, "he died some time after you three left all that time ago. He asked me to take his place as king."

The three sadden just a little bit with the unfortunate news, but then perk up again. "So, you're the king of the jungle?" asked Sora.

Tarzan nodded. "Yes, and good thing you all are here. Just yesterday the heartless came back to this world."

"I don't understand," Jane tapped her chin, "didn't you three lock the Keyhole the last time you visited? Doesn't that mean the heartless should no longer interfere?"

"It's complicated," Sora said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You see, the heartless are born out of darkness. So wherever there's darkness, the heartless will appear. It may be a lot less since we sealed the Keyhole, but they'll always be _there_."

"There's darkness within every heart." Riku clarified.

"Man, Master Xehanort is working fast." King Mickey said.

"Master Xehanort?" asked Sora.

"Oh, that's right," Mickey realized, "we never got to tell you about the situation."

"Lay it on me," said Sora, crossing his arms.

"Wait a sec," Roxas pitched in, "shouldn't we be going out to find those heartless?"

"He's right. This is kind of a longer story anyway." Mickey admitted. "Alright, Sora and Riku, I want you two to come with me with Tarzan to find these heartless. Axel, Roxas, you protect Jane."

"Will do." Axel said as he slipped next to Jane, wrapping an arm around her. Jane being a bit uncomfortable.

"What about us, your Majesty?" asked Donald, with Goofy behind him.

Mickey rubbed the back of his head. What could they do? They weren't useless but they weren't exactly hot accessories either. But they had been working so hard and doing their best lately, Mickey didn't want to just brush them off like that.

"Um," Mickey said.

"You guys can guard the tree house!" Sora exclaimed.

"But isn't that basically the same thing Roxas and Axel are doing?" asked Goofy.

"You two will have to be outside to make sure nothing can sneak up on the rest of them." Riku explained.

"Yeah, and this is a job only given to the bravest of us all." Sora said.

They looked kind of disappointed in the lack luster job they had to fulfill, but Donald and Goofy agreed and soon everyone went to work.

...

Cid looked down at the gas meter, it was starting to run low. Luckily Mickey had supplied equipment in the basement of this huge ship just in case of incidents like this.

"All right, folks," Cid called out to the others, who were mostly all still distraught by the thought of some of their most prominent friends possibly being dead, "we gon have to take a quick stop while I clean this baby up."

"How long is that going to take?" Paine asked, annoyed that they have to stop for anything at all.

"'Bout twenty minutes. Ain't nothing extreme, just sprucin' up on the engine and filling up the gas," Cid explained. He saw the closest world, which was Deep Jungle, and decided he'd land there, just for now.

Destiny sure is a funny thing.

...

Tarzan, Mickey, Sora, and Riku all walked up to a big black fruit in the Climbing Trees area.

"That's the black fruit from last time." Sora recalled.

"Yes," Tarzan admitted. "Its returned. I believe it's the reason why there are so many creatures."

"But that doesn't make sense," Mickey interluded. "If Master Xehanort is trying to create darkness all over the place, then this fruit..."

"You don't think Master Xehanort put it here, do you?" Riku asked.

"It's a debatable thing," Mickey answered. "Best we can do is get rid of it."

"What are you guys talking about? Xehanort is gone, we defeated him, remember?" Sora said.

"Mickey, I think it's time we tell Sora," Riku told the King.

Mickey nodded, "Well, when you were asleep-"

But before he can start explaining, heartless began to surround the four fighters.

"This always happens!" Sora complained.

The four withdrew their weapons and began attacking the heartless.

...

Cid was working on the engine of the ship, as it was now parked in the jungle. He noticed Kairi walk out of the ship and she let her hair out of a pony tail, since she figured she probably wasn't going to be in action or anything.

"Where you goin'?" asked Cid.

"Just for a walk," she answered. "I'll be back, soon."

"Okay," Cid said unsure if she should really be going out there by herself. But he figured she'd be okay.

...

After tons of endless walking, groaning about how much she missed Sora, she came across a big tree house.

"Cool!" Kairi exclaimed. Kairi loved these kinds of things. She was always a little bit of a tomboy. She started examining it and wondering how it worked. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tree house, Donald and Goofy were lying down on the grass, bored as all hell.

"I don't believe it," Donald said. He was pretty angry with Sora. Sora pulled the exact same stunt that Captain Jack Sparrow pulled on him some time ago, with the whole _this task is only given to the bravest of pirates_ cover-up.

Donald and Goofy fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

"I can't believe we fell for it," Donald said.

Goofy looked at his watch, which he was never there before but somehow he miraculously had one. "How long have they been gone?"

"About an hour. They better come back soon, hearing Axel flirt like that so much with Jane is starting to get annoying."

"Gee, Sora, Riku, the King, they're all gonna be part of some big war for the X-blade, and look at us. The most exciting thing we've gotten to do these past couple of days was save Riku and the King, and it was a complete accident." Goofy said a little sad.

Donald sighed, Goofy was right. They were starting to feel unappreciated by the rest of the group. They couldn't fight as well as Sora or the King, but did they have to be kicked to the back of the bus like this?

"Ya ever think we'll do anything important?" asked Goofy.

Donald opened his mouth to say something, but the two started to hear footsteps coming from the other side of the house. The two looked at each other and nodded. It was probably a heartless.

They took out their staff and shield and began creeping their way to the back of the tree. They looked over and saw something bending over in the bushes, but to them, they couldn't identify what it really was.

Donald put a finger to his lips to gesture Goofy to keep quiet. They started tip toeing towards the bent over creature.

Kairi was looking in the bushes for her good luck charm. _Damn it, I just had to drop it in here. _She thought.

Kairi finds and stands up, "Got it."

As soon as she stands up, however, she is tackled to the ground once again. Kairi started screaming for her life. Donald and Goofy opened their eyes, the scream sounded oddly familiar.

They took a look at what they captured, and found it was only an auburn fifteen year old girl.

"Kairi?!" they said in unison.

Hearing her name, she stopped screaming and looked at who had attacked her. "Donald? Goofy?"

Awkward silence ensued, but it was broken soon after as the three reunited in a group hug. Kairi was ecstatic. She was happy to see Donald and Goofy, but she was even more excited knowing that if they were alive, Sora might be too.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you guys are!" Kairi exclaimed.

The three broke from their group hug. Axel, Jane, and Roxas came running to the back, after hearing all that screaming.

"The hell is going on here?" Axel asked, a little frustrated. He froze when he saw the sight of Kairi, remembering what he had done to her in the past. No, not rape, he kidnapped her.

Kairi noticed Axel, too, and she actually smiled. Axel felt really guilty now. "Hi, Axel!" she said. Axel waved hesitantly with a nervous smile. Kairi then felt even more excited when she saw Roxas, which almost confirmed that Sora was here. "Roxas!"

She ran up to Roxas and gave him a big hug.

"Hey, Kairi," Roxas said, returning the hug.

Kairi then turned to Jane, recognizing her as well. She was in Sora's heart when Sora first came to this jungle, and lived through Sora's first adventure with him, so she knew who Jane was. "Hi, Jane!" she said excitedly.

Jane was taken aback. Who the hell was this girl? She had never seen her in her life. "Who...are you?" Jane asked, slightly freaked out.

That's right, Jane never met Kairi. She was so caught up in the moment she didn't even think about that.

"Have we met before?" Jane asked.

Kairi let out a sigh and a smile. "No. Nice to meet you." Kairi put her hand out, "I'm Kairi."

Jane shook her hand, "Jane." she responded, despite the fact the girl oddly knew her name. "Oh, now I remember! You're the girl Sora was looking for the last time he was here."

Kairi nodded approvingly.

"Hey, Kairi," Goofy walked up to her, "are the others here, too?"

"Yeah," she answered. "The ship isn't even that far from here."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other excitedly, both having the same thing in mind.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Donald chanted.

Kairi turned to Roxas. "Roxas, what are you doing without Sora?"

"You tell me." he answered. Then he got serious, "Um, Kairi, can you do something for me?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kairi interrupted, "before we get to that, is Sora here?"

Roxas sighed. He knew Kairi well enough that as soon as he said yes, Kairi was going to run off to go find him. But he didn't want to upset her either, after all, he had a crush on the other half of Kairi, who's almost a spitting image of her.

Roxas nods 'yes' to Kairi.

Words can't describe the amount of excitement Kairi felt at that moment. It was confirmed, Sora was here. She could finally see him and tell him how she felt about him.

Kairi did exactly what Roxas predicted, she started sprinting at full speed to go find Sora.

"Kairi, wait!" Donald yelled. Donald and Goofy started running along with her, almost identical to the way they used to follow Sora around.

"Damn it," Axel said. "See you, babe." Axel said to Jane as he began running, but stopped when Roxas wasn't tagging along. "You coming?"

"I'll catch up," Roxas answered.

Axel shrugged and went off to find his friends. Jane walked next to Roxas. "That girl," she started, "she's really pretty. No wonder Sora was so worried about her."

Roxas sighed, "Yeah."

Jane noticed Roxas was a little depressed. "You don't...happen to like that girl, too?"

Roxas tried to find a good way to answer this without sounding like a jackass. Sure, he liked Kairi, but he _liked _Namine, Kairi's nobody. That's what he was going to ask her earlier, he was going to ask if he could talk to her for a second. So, yeah, he liked Kairi, but not specifically Kairi, he liked her _other_.

Then he remembered what Sora did to cover this crap up, he said that he and Roxas were twin brothers. Makes sense.

"No," he answered truthfully, "I like her twin sister."

...

Sora was really wishing he hadn't treated Donald and Goofy like that earlier at this point. For two good reasons: One, he was starting to feel kind of bad about it, and two, he could really use his Drive forms right about now, but he needed Donald or Goofy in a reasonable range.

Riku flipped up into the air and blasted a dark aura attack on some of the heartless. Nothing was truly settling these heartless down, though. They just kept coming, even after they destroyed the big fruit.

The fruit must not have been the case then.

Mickey was being a badass as always. His combos were so sick at this point, he wasn't even breaking a sweat, but this gauntlet did grow tiresome.

Tarzan started worrying about his wife. He had to go see her.

"Guys, think you can hold them off? I have to go check up on Jane!" Tarzan asked.

"No, we understand," Mickey yelled out. "Just hurry, okay?"

Tarzan nodded as he made his way out of the area to go find Jane. He hated leaving his friends like this, but he couldn't live with himself if Jane were to get hurt.

It's not like Sora, Riku, and Mickey necessarily needed Tarzan anyway.

Sora was starting to wish Tifa were here, since they made such a hardcore team together. If he were to fight endlessly like this, he might as well have fun with it.

Soon, the heartless all just disappeared in a flash. It had happened before, but now suspicion was being aroused in their heads.

Mickey didn't break a sweat, of course, but Sora and Riku had to catch their breath.

"We have to figure out a way to stop these heartless." King Mickey said.

Sora and Riku nodded.

"But won't that mean, we'll have to visit a bunch of different worlds again?" asked Sora.

"Looks like it. This should end though, once we find Xehanort."

"And why's that?" Riku asked.

"We're gonna force him to tell us how to fix this problem," said Mickey with a wink. They heard rustling in the bushes. They thought it might just be Tarzan coming back, but just in case, they all got into their fighting stances. But they were surprised to see Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.

Kairi ran straight to Sora. "SORA!" she cried out.

Kairi gave Sora a huge hug, with Sora hugging back as well. He missed her just as much as she missed him. Their embrace was warm, Kairi didn't even want to let go.

Donald and Goofy smiled at their reunion.

Kairi pulled away from Sora, just for a moment, as she ran up and hugged Riku and the King. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried about all of you!"

"Glad to see you too, Kai." Mickey said.

"Yeah, for a second, I was wondering when was the next time we'd even meet up again." Riku said, secretly overjoyed to be able to hug Kairi's warm body.

Kairi pulled away and walked up to Sora, giving him another hug. It was obvious she missed him the most.

"How'd you find us?" asked Sora.

"I followed my heart," she answered. "Come on, let's get outta here."

Sora finally took a good look at her and...whoa. She was still in her tank top and jeans, and she looked _really_ good in it too. If he had some water, he'd spit it out with how good she really looked. _Kairi looks so freaking sexy in that, _he couldn't help think.

Since when did Sora turn into such a pervert? He didn't know, nor did he care. He was just glad to have Kairi back.

"When we get back to the ship, me and Riku have some explaining to do, too." Mickey said.

"It's pretty serious." Riku added.

Goofy looked down and saw a dark purplish orb beginning to grow. "Oh no," Goofy said. If his hunch was correct, it was the same type of orb that was used to destroy Radiant Garden.

"Run!" Mickey yelled.

And they did just that.

...

Roxas and Axel were walking casually, holding hands and talking about their plans for a hotel room later on.

"Author!" Axel cried.

Roxas and Axel were walking casually, not holding hands, and talking about memories from their past.

"Much better." Axel said with relief.

But not after long, he found Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Riku, Donald, and Goofy running towards them.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" asked Roxas.

"Don't worry about it, just run!" Sora yelled as they sprinted.

Axel and Roxas were not ones to argue and they began running with the group. They looked back to see darkness being spread, and they understood the panic.

"What the hell did you guys do?!" complained Axel.

"We didn't do anything!" Donald defended.

After running for what seemed like forever, Kairi had led them to the ship, where they barged in immediately. Everyone turned to them concerned.

"What's wrong?" Yuna asked.

"This place is getting filled with darkness," Sora explained. "Let's move!"

Everyone boarded the ship. Kairi thought about something.

"Wait, what about Tarzan and Jane?" she asked.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Riku, Axel, and Roxas' realized that too, and their faces expressed pained and sad tones.

"We," Mickey started, "we can't do anything about it."

"We can't just let them die!" Sora complained.

"Sora, I'm sorry, but there's not enough time to save them. We have about a minute left, at best." Mickey explained.

"No way," Sora yelled, "I'm not giving up on them!"

Sora was about to run out, but Riku and Leon held him back.

"Sora, calm down," Riku said. "We'll find a way to bring them back!"

Sora calmed down after hearing that. That's all they could do. Cid closed the door and turned the engine on, and he flew the ship away from Deep Jungle, just as the darkness shrouded over it.

Mixed emotions were in the uncomfortable in the air. People didn't know whether to be happy about Sora being safe and the King and Riku have been back, or confused about Axel and Roxas, or to be glad Mickey, Riku, Donald, and Goofy were okay, or to be sad that another world was destroyed.

No one knew how to feel.

Leon decided to break the ice, "Well, I'm glad you guys are all okay."

Everyone then perked up and agreed, greeting Sora and saying how worried they were about him. Most notably Tifa, since she and Sora's friendship had grown.

They were upset by the fact that Aerith was still unconscious, but on a more positive note, Merlin said her breathing was getting better.

Mickey then caught everyone's attention. "Everyone," everybody turned to him and Riku, who were standing in the middle of the room.

"We have something really important to tell you." Riku explained.

Mickey gulped, preparing for his long explanation. "There's going to be a war..."

**A/N: Ugh, I'm getting tired of this myself. i can't wait till the story picks itself up. matter of fact, it should be next chap. so, keep reading! :)**


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